Landmark high-rise Glasgow hotel gains new owner and name

A landmark high-rise hotel in the heart of Glasgow has changed hands and is set for a name change.

Property advisor Christie & Co has overseen the sale of the 278-bedroom Premier Inn at Charing Cross to Britannia Hotels.

The acquisition will be Britannia Hotels’ 64th establishment, and its fifth in Scotland, and takes the company’s total room count to almost 12,300 bedrooms.

Christie & Co said the Premier Inn had been sold off a guide price of £8.5 million. It noted that the hotel came to the market as Premier Inn owner Whitbread was reconfiguring its network of hotels in Glasgow city centre, following the opening of the 249-bedroom Premier Inn and Bar + Block restaurant at St Enoch Square in June 2021.

Alex Langsam, managing director at Britannia, said: “Glasgow is a classic Britannia Hotels location where people come to work and play, and we will provide great value accommodation for these guests.

“This city-centre, high rise property joins the city, coast and country hotels we offer across our group which also includes Pontins Holiday Parks. We remain keen to grow our group further using the cash resources we have generated over the years which means we can move quickly to secure hotels on an all cash basis.”

Jeremy Jones, head of hotels brokerage at Christie & Co, said: “After a competitive bidding process we are delighted to complete this important sale to Britannia Hotels, which follows on the heels of our success acting in the sale of The Lorne Hotel, Glasgow. We are experiencing higher demand for such city-centre hotels.”

Brian Sheldon, regional director of Scotland for Christie & Co, who supported the sale on a local level, added: “This is a prime example of the buoyancy across the Glasgow and the wider Scottish hotel market at present, with the demand for accommodation across Scotland on the rise.

The hotel came to the market as Premier Inn owner Whitbread was reconfiguring its network of hotels in Glasgow city centre.

“We are currently speaking with buyers across all price points with genuine aspirations to add to their portfolios and often surpassing client expectations with local, wider UK and international buyers as a result.”

Glasgow was awarded the Conde Nast Traveller best UK city break destination in 2021.