Nice back garden: the Selsdon hotel, after a £15m modernisation, is on the market
The former Selsdon Park Hotel and its 198-acre estate has been put up for sale through estate agents Savills less than two months since it went out of business as boutique hipster resort Birch Selsdon.
The sale, on behalf of administrators, should end rumours among residents’ groups in South Croydon that the 181-room hotel was to be taken over by the Home Office to provide accommodation for refugees whose immigration applications they have delayed processing.
Birch Selsdon closed in November 2023, following a £15.3million refurbishment over 18 months which had transformed the slightly faded, old-style country house hotel, and now included a “wellness” centre, pottery and weaving classes, a re-wilded golf course, lido, three bars, co-working space and two restaurants run by chef Lee Westcott.
“There remains several value-enhancing initiatives in place to improve top-line performance and Net Operating Income,” according to Savills, so all that refurb work wasn’t entirely a waste of time.
Members’ club: Birch installed several new facilities, such as the gym
Birch Selsdon operated as a membership club, charging £150 per person per month. According to Savills, it had attracted 640 members. But it closed after barely six months of operation due to “cash constraints”.
Around 100 full- and part-time workers lost their jobs.
Birch Hospitality and real estate investment firm Aprirose also opened Birch Cheshunt in Hertfordshire in 2020 – like Selsdon, they acquired it from De Vere – but that went into administration the same week last November.
Savills is seeking to sell a long lease on Birch Selsdon and part freehold interest in the estate, with “price on application”.
A Savills agent told The Caterer: “We anticipate strong interest from the market for this opportunity, appealing to a diverse range of capital sources and accommodating various business plans and asset preferences.”
Read more: 100 to lose jobs as Selsdon Birch hotel closes its doors
Read more: Administrators move in to run Selsdon’s ‘shabby chic’ hotel
Read more: Get orf moy laaand! Posh hotel declares parkland a no-go zone
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
- Our comments section on every report provides all readers with an immediate “right of reply” on all our content. Our comments policy can be read by clicking here
- Inside Croydon works together with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, as well as BBC London News and ITV London
