A return to past glories: BH Group says it is spending £30m on the refurbishment of the Selsdon Park Hotel, hinting that there will be a return to its mid-century elegance and luxury
More than 150 jobs to be created amid the rolling North Downs, as new owners seek to create one of the country’s ‘leading resorts’
One hundred years since the Selsdon Park estate first opened its doors as a luxury hotel, the property’s new owners have confirmed their intention to transform the site into “one of the UK’s leading resorts”.
And they are backing that up with a £30million refurbishment budget, with the aim of being open for business by mid-2027.
Inside Croydon revealed exclusively in March that Leeds-based hotel business BH Group was in the process of buying Selsdon Park, almost three years since the former owners, Birch, were forced to close in administration in November 2023.
BH Group’s business is based around traditional British country house hotels, which for the Selsdon Park Hotel would represent a return to the more elegant style that it became known for after it opened in 1926.
BH Group has already conducted an auction of much of the furniture that was used in Birch’s hipster-friendly £200 per room per night members’ club, where sky-high joining fees and subscription charges only served to exclude the wider public from visiting its two bars and three restaurants.
“Barely used” and “bespoke” items were put up for sale from a mere £5 a pop last month, as the auctioneers offered tables, sofas and table lamps described as “a sophisticated marriage of durable industrial design and mid-century textures”.
The grand house clearance auction caught the eye of the Financial Times‘s restaurant critic, Jay Rayner, who recommended his social media followers working in the business to snap up the bargains on offer.
Heritage building: a former country residence, the centre wing of the Selsdon Park Hotel dates to 1819
BH Group says that once reopened, they expect to create more than 150 full- and part-time jobs at the Selsdon Park.
The refurbishment work is already underway, with contractors on site. Works are understood to include overdue updating and modernising of the main building, which was built as a country residence, Selsdon House, in 1819. A new heating system and double glazing in what were often draughty bedrooms are on the list of works to be carried out. There’s a £6.5million budget for the new heating works alone.
BH Group has acquired a long leasehold to 2186, and part freehold interest in the surrounding estate of more than 200 acres of North Downs parkland.
James Routledge, BH Group’s chief investment officier, has this week told a small circulation trade magazine, “We’re delighted to have finally acquired this exceptional property, one which we have pursued for over 18 months.
“The key element was being able to merge the freehold and long leasehold interest to unlock its real potential. Over the next 12 to 18 months, we plan to transform it into one of the UK’s leading luxury resorts, supported by a £30million investment.”
BH Group have not disclosed the purchase price for the Selsdon Park, though after being in the hands of administrators for two years, it is probable that the initial asking price and terms may have been reduced. According to the official administrators, the Birch hotel in Selsdon was “subject to approximately £29million of bank debt”.
Birch acquired the estate in 2022, and then spent £15million on their own makeover, as they re-styled it as a modern, up-market country club offering yoga and pottery classes, while charging members £150 per month just to enter the premises.
Staycation chic: the BH Group was behind the purchase of five English country hotels last year
BH Group has an estimated £975million of developments and properties in its portfolio. Their work has included re-styling th landmark Hotel Indigo by Manchester Piccadilly Station. AB Boutique Hotels Operations Selsdon Ltd was registered with Companies House in January this year. It has four directors, two of them based in Saudi Arabia.
Last year, BH Group’s expansion saw the company buy the Windermere Hotel, the Burlington Hotel in Eastbourne, the Imperial in Exmouth, and the St Ives Bay Hotel and the Ship and Castle Hotel in Cornwall, scooping up some property bargains as the hotel and hospitality industry readjusts after six bleak years instigated by the covid lockdowns (previous owners De Vere opted to dispose of Selsdon Park Hotel in February 2022).
“These hotels form the basis of our drive into the growing ‘staycation’ market,” Routledge said of the company’s purchases last year.
“We are excited by these opportunities and others we are currently seeing in the market.” By which, he must have had Selsdon Park in mind.
In March, Routledge attended the annual meeting of the Selsdon Residents’ Association to outline his company’s plans, and reassure locals that there is no intention to turn the building into a refugee hotel, nor to build flats on the rolling acres of Green Belt land.
According to Routledge, BH Group will not be restoring the former 18-hole golf course, which was designed by five-time Open champion JH Taylor, and played as a par 72 course over 6,368 yards. Birch closed the golf club on taking over the estate, where they attempted to re-wild the downland with a few ponies and cattle.
Routledge said that his company wants Selsdon to be an “affordable” four-star hotel with 176 rooms (a handful fewer than the 181 on offer under the previous owners), where locals will be able to use the bars and restaurants without any hefty membership subscriptions.
Read more: Selsdon Park Hotel’s new owners hope to re-open by June 2027
Read more: Administrators move in to run Selsdon’s ‘shabby chic’ hotel
Read more: Lots of reservations after Selsdon hotel and golf course close
Read more: Get orf moy laaand! Posh hotel declares parkland a no-go zone
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