A 90-BEDROOM hotel on a prime site has been snapped up by a pub company.

The Inn Collection Group has completed the purchase of the Hotel St George in Harrogate.

The northern pub firm has bought the prestigious Edwardian site in the centre of the historic spa town for an undisclosed sum, as it continues to broaden its customer base across Yorkshire.

Sean Donkin is managing director of The Inn Collection Group.

He said: “The Hotel St George is an exciting acquisition for us as we continue to expand our customer base and imprint in Yorkshire while continuing to roll out our buy and build strategy as an operator.

“We have had Harrogate in our sights for a considerable time while identifying a site that is a fit with our ‘Eat, Drink, Sleep and Explore’ brand. We are delighted to have completed on this superb site which will be a tremendous asset for our customers and our portfolio of inns in the best UK locations.

“The Hotel St George has everything we look for in a The Inn Collection Group venue: A first-class destination, placing our guests into the heart of the UK’s best locations – it is a perfect site for exploring Harrogate and the surrounding Yorkshire Dales.

“We are looking forward to enhancing this stunning building so it delivers its full potential for visitors and customers living in and around the locality in Harrogate."

The Hotel St George has an enviable location in the centre of Harrogate on the town’s famous Parliament Hill, close to attractions including the heritage town’s Turkish Baths and Betty’s Tearooms.

The site, which includes The Swaledale Restaurant and six function rooms, will continue trading under the group’s ‘Eat, Drink, Sleep and Explore’ pub with rooms brand before undergoing careful refurbishment and remodelling works this year.

The purchase of The Hotel St George follows the Alchemy-backed group’s acquisitions of landmark Yorkshire venues The Dower House in Knaresborough, The Dean Court in York and The Ripon Spa Hotel in Ripon as The Inn Collection Group continues to deliver new deal and organic growth strategies in Yorkshire, supported with banking from OakNorth.

Elsewhere in Yorkshire, The Inn Collection Group is redeveloping Northallerton’s former police station into a 32-bedroom pub with rooms called The Northallerton Inn.

The group’s trading portfolio of pubs with rooms in Yorkshire includes The Stables at Whitby and The King’s Head Inn at Newton under Roseberry.

October saw the group re-open the 15th century coaching inn, The Black Swan in Helmsley following a multi-million pound refurbishment.

The group made its first expansion into Wales in December, with the purchase of The Swallow Falls Hotel in the Snowdonia National Park.