A hotel in Northampton which suddenly closed in June is set for a new lease of life as a halls of residence for international students at a private college.
The Lime Trees Hotel in Langham Place, Barrack Road, was placed into administration last May when Moore Stephens were appointed joint administrators with a view to selling the property.
They appointed Legacy Hotels and Resorts to operate and manage the town centre venue over the busy Christmas period and their success gave further time for marketing which has led to the completed sale to Bosworth Independent College.
The college will be using the former hotel as accommodation for international students studying for their GCSEs at its nearby site in Leicester Street.
Arvindar Singh-Sall, an associate at Moore Stephens, said: “We are pleased to have sold the property to Bosworth Independent College, to become their seventh boarding house, because the property will continue to be used, generate employment and has allowed a full value to be achieved.”
Andy Townsend, chief executive at Legacy Hotels and Resorts, said his team has great experience in turning round under-performing hotels.
He said: “It is always a difficult time when hotels enter administration because of the uncertainty for guests and staff.
“We needed to start work on the project immediately at the turn of the year and began driving sales to ensure a positive trading environment for all stakeholders – successfully honouring bookings at the hotel until the sale concluded and the hotel closed.”
At least 50 couples were forced to find a different venue for their wedding reception after the administrators announced it was shutting down at the end of June.
The hotel opened in 1971 after it was converted from a boarding school and was part of the Best Western chain.