Thai owner of Edinburgh's Braid Hills Hotel snaps up popular Elgin hotel in seven-figure deal

The Eight Acres Hotel in Elgin has been acquired by Thailand-based Lake Merritt Group. Picture: Contributed

The 52-bedroom Eight Acres Hotel in Elgin has been acquired by Thailand-based Lake Merritt Group, from Crerar Hotel Group.

With a guide price of offers in the region of £3.5 million, the sale was brokered by the specialist hotels and agency team at property adviser Colliers International.

The deal completed by Lake Merritt Group follows its purchase last year of the Windermere Hydro Hotel, also brokered by Colliers International, which added to its existing Scottish hotels ownership of the Braid Hills Hotel in Edinburgh.

Prab Thakral, an adviser to Lake Merritt Group, said: “The Eight Acres Hotel is an exciting addition to our fast growing portfolio in UK. The Eight Acres Hotel is Lake Merritt Group’s second hotel in Scotland and fourth in the UK and we are aggressively and diligently expanding our hotel portfolio, as we have a long term positive view in UK’s hospitality industry as a whole.”

Paddy Crerar, chief executive of Crerar Hotel Group, added: “We are very pleased with this sale, which is another key milestone in our right-sizing strategy and takes us even closer to achieving our aim of being Scotland’s highest quality family of hotels and Inns.

“The Eight Acres has been an excellent asset for us. However, the agreed deal was simply too generous for us to ignore, particularly as the good chemistry with such experienced buyers made it a painless journey. It once again confirms that the appetite for quality Scottish assets continues to grow, which is a clear backing for the already rock-solid Scottish tourism sector.”