Meet the New Boss
British billionaire Peter de Savary has sold his Bovey Castle golf resort and spa near Devon, England to U.K based Hillwood Resorts and Hotels for £26.4 million. A 365-acre property alongside the moors of Dartmoor National Park, Bovey Castle was the setting for Baskerville Hall in the 1939 Sherlock Holmes move, “The Hound of the Baskervilles.’’ The hotel has 65 bedrooms, in addition to which there is also a self-contained two bedroom cottage, and 14 three bedroom lodges within the estate (eight lodges having previously been sold to Exclusive Resorts, a US destination holiday club). “I have spent the last 31⁄2 years with great support and help from many individuals and organizations in transforming the rundown and disappointing Manor House Hotel into the now internationally acclaimed Bovey Castle,’’ said de Savary, whose other holdings include The Abaco Club on Winding Bay in The Bahamas. “The vision has been accomplished and it is now a question of sound ongoing day to day management and the shareholders have therefore taken a decision to accept an offer of purchase from a first class group of English hoteliers being part of a major UK property fund. This transaction will take place immediately and the new owners intend to continue to build upon the business that we have created and provide our guests with the level of hospitality they have become accustomed to and enjoy.”
De Savary will remain on as Chairman of the Bovey Castle Club.