The 20-bedroom Grade II listed hotel, run for the past 13 years by Julian Leefe-Griffiths, is to be refurbished by its new owner, four months after the group sold Groombridge Place.
The boutique hotel group behind The Pig has bought the Tunbridge Wells Hotel on the Pantiles in Royal Tunbridge Wells.
The 18th-century, Grade II listed hotel was sold by Julian Leefe-Griffiths and his wife, Sarah, for an undisclosed sum. It had been marketed with a guide price of £2.695 million. Mr Leefe-Griffiths has run the hotel for the past 13 years.
The buyer is Home Grown Hotels, the company that operates The Pig brand. Companies House records show Home Grown Hotels Limited was incorporated in 2011 and is registered in Lyndhurst, Hampshire.
What the new owner plans
The hotel has 20 bedrooms, a bar, a restaurant, a function room and outdoor dining areas. According to Warners Solicitors, which acted for the sellers, it is expected to undergo a comprehensive refurbishment over the coming months, with a focus on local suppliers and produce. No reopening date has been announced.
In a statement reported by the trade title Boutique Hotel News, The Pig said it wanted the hotel to be “somewhere to grab a coffee on your way into work” as well as a place for long lunches, drinks with friends, dinner and an overnight stay.
Back in the area after Groombridge Place
The purchase brings the group back to the Tunbridge Wells area. In May it sold Groombridge Place, the Grade I listed estate near Tunbridge Wells that it bought in 2023 and had planned to turn into a 40-bedroom hotel. Chief executive Kevin Styles said at the time that the company’s “investment focus has evolved” since it took the estate on.
The sale
Warners, based in Tonbridge, advised the sellers with a team led by Andrew Hawkins, its head of corporate and commercial. “The hotel has been an important part of The Pantiles for many years and we are delighted to have supported our clients through such a significant transaction and into the next chapter for both them and the hotel,” he said.
The sale was handled by leisure property agents Fleurets, now part of Graham + Sibbald, on behalf of the sellers.
The Pig buys the Tunbridge Wells Hotel on the Pantiles Quiz
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