Starboard Hotels acquire Riverlights Holiday Inn

Riverlights Holiday Inn in Derby has been acquired by Starboard Hotels. The acquisition of the 105-bedroom Holiday Inn Riverlights, sees the Starboard portfolio rise to 15 hotels across the UK, with four new hotels being added this year alone. The Holiday Inn, a full service hotel with conference and banqueting facilities, was brought to the market by the CBRE Group on behalf of the Moorfield Group for offers in excess of £6m. In addition to the hotel, Starboard have also purchased two retail units with a view to expanding the hotel restaurant and bar. Coutts & Co provided senior debt for the acquisition which is now the 14th hotel to be funded by the bank. This latest acquisition also expands Starboard’s Intercontinental Hotel Group property portfolio to six hotels under the global brand. Founder and managing director Paul Callingham said: “It has been a tremendous year of growth for Starboard and we are delighted to have made another important acquisition. We welcome the team from the Holiday Inn Derby into the Starboard ‘family’ and we are looking forward to working with the General Manager Carrie-Louise Holleran and her team.” Kerian Barnes, group operations director for Starboard, added: “This is a great hotel for us to take over and utilise all our experiences from our other IHG properties to improve facilities and the overall guest experience. “We are looking at developing the ground floor at the Holiday Inn, where we will be expanding the hotel, introducing the open lobby concept and improving the restaurant and bar which will create new jobs for the area.” Heiko Figge, head of hospitality, leisure & operations, Moorfield Group said: ““We are pleased to have sold the popular Derby Riverlights Holiday Inn hotel to such an experienced and expert operator as Starboard and would like to thank the General Manager and her team for having done such an outstanding job during our ownership of the property. The team has continually delivered the highest room occupancy in Derby and I am sure that the hotel will continue to flourish under Starboard’s ownership.” The Holiday Inn purchase comes less than a month after Starboard acquired the Windermere Manor Hotel in the Lake District. Starboard Hotels are anticipating further acquisition news early in 2018 in addition to the commencement of building work on the new Hampton by Hilton hotel at London’s Park Royal, due to start in the Spring. It now brings the total number of bedrooms under Starboard Hotel’s ownership to 1,424, under brands including Best Western, Ibis, Days Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Holiday Inn.