Olde Barn Hotel at Marston sold to entrepreneur after it was put up for sale at a guide price of £2.5 million

The 102-bedroom Olde Barn Hotel near Marston has been sold to a tech entrepreneur after it was put up for sale at a guide price of £2.5 million.

The hotel has been sold to a business entity operated by Jonathan Goulstine, from Hertfordshire, who has plans to continue to trade the hotel as a popular venue for both leisure and business guests, 'building on its existing reputation'.

The hotel, restaurant and spa has been sold by commercial real estate specialists Colliers on behalf of Libertas Associates and Shepherd Cox (Grantham) Ltd.

The property trades as a rustic countryside barn hotel with 102 en-suite bedrooms, restaurant for 70 covers, bar for 40 covers and spa with extensive leisure facilities including 15m swimming pool, jacuzzi, steam room, sauna and gym.

Mr Goulstine said: “We are delighted to have acquired this hotel and spa with robust performance in such a challenging environment. We look forward to investing in order to further improve the long term performance of the Olde Barn”.

Josh Sullivan, associate director at Hotels Agency team at Colliers, said: “The sale garnered strong levels of interest from a variety of operators due to both the size and location of the hotel. Despite the threat of a looming recession and increased operational costs, the result further underpins the continued confidence in the regional hotel market and the demand for quality, provincial assets with value-add opportunities.

"Appetite, therefore, remains strong but we are now clearly witnessing a flight to quality as investors seek to safeguard their capital.”

A spokesperson for Libertas Insolvency Practitioners said: “As an insolvency practitioner I am obliged to ensure that company assets are fully and appropriately marketed and best value is obtained. I used the services of Josh Sullivan and Peter Brunt to market and sell a distressed hotel.

"I was impressed with their knowledge of the market, their responsiveness and ability to turn things around within short deadlines forced upon us. As a result we were able to successfully sell the asset saving a substantial number of jobs in the process."