A HUSBAND and wife have bought their fourth hotel in York, creating the city's largest independent hotel group.

This time Colin and Sharon Marsh have acquired the 30-bedroom Gateway To York Hotel in Kexby, which has the potential for 30 more en-suite rooms, for which planning consent has already been given.

The three-star hotel, set in eight acres of ground three miles from the York ring road, adds to the Marshs' growing multi-million pound portfolio, consisting of the Minster Hotel, Bootham, the Blue Bridge Hotel, Fishergate and St Denys Hotel, Piccadilly.

The acquisition brings the number of hotel bedrooms under the couple's control to 103, and broadens the task of the group general manager Mark Webb.

Under its previous owner, Austrian Manfred Zeilerbauer, The Gateway To York underwent a major refurbishment programme which saw the establishment of what was to become the award-winning Kexby Bistro.

The details of the deal struck are undisclosed, but the hotel was put on the market for £1.5 million.

Mr Marsh, a qualified chartered accountant, started his growing empire when in 1998 he bought the 13-room St Denys from his parents, Ruth and Keith, as they went into retirement.

He and his wife, Sharon, once the showbiz agent for comedian Bobby Davro, then went on to acquire the Blue Bridge Hotel from Brian Long and have since extended it by four rooms.

In late 2003, the couple struck a deal worth just under £2 million for the for the Minster Hotel, Bootham, and began extending its 34 bedrooms to 40. They named their new organisation the Minster Hotel Group.

Their latest transaction was concluded by Andrew Lindsay, corporate partner with York law firm Denison Till, and finance was provided by David Mountain, director of the York commercial office of The Royal Bank of Scotland.

Mr Marsh said: "We are delighted that the Gateway To York is now a part of our portfolio.

"With more than a quarter of a mile of frontage on the River Derwent and an award-winning restaurant, the hotel is ideal for the leisure or business traveller who wishes to enjoy the historic city of York by day and return to the peaceful and relaxed atmosphere of a country hotel in the evening."

The hotel, which also boasts a meeting suite for up to 60 delegates, an ornamental lake and coarse fishing facilities on the Derwent, charges room tariffs from £55.

Updated: 09:58 Friday, September 02, 2005