A portfolio available as a whole or hotel by hotel
Blantyre Capital, a London-based private investment firm, has launched the sale of Crerar Hotels, the Scottish hotel group it owns. According to Green Street News, the asking price is £90 million, or around €104m.
The seller has not settled on a single sale structure. According to The Scotsman, Blantyre is willing to sell the ten properties together or each hotel separately.
Nine properties in Scotland, one in the Lake District
Dunkeld House Hotel is the group’s largest hotel, with 100 rooms. It is located in the village of Dunkeld, often called the gateway to the Highlands. Next come the Isle of Mull Hotel & Spa (75 rooms) in Tobermory, on the Isle of Mull, then the Oban Bay Hotel (74 rooms) in Oban and the Loch Fyne Hotel & Spa (69 rooms) in Inveraray.
The rest of the Scottish estate comprises Thainstone House (48 rooms) in Inverurie and the Balmoral Arms (46 rooms) in Ballater. They are joined by Fonab Castle (42 rooms) in Pitlochry, the Golf View Hotel & Spa (42 rooms) in Nairn and the Glencoe Inn (16 rooms) in Ballachulish.
The tenth hotel is in England. The Daffodil Hotel & Spa has 78 rooms and stands on the shores of Grasmere in the Lake District. The building dates from 1855.
Around €177,000 per room
The group has nearly 590 rooms in total. The asking price therefore works out at around £152,500 per room, or nearly €177,000. Most of the hotels are mid-sized leisure properties, often with a spa, located outside Scotland’s major cities.
This type of hotel attracts different buyers from those of Scotland’s city hotels. In Edinburgh, for example, LRO Hospitality recently acquired the Courtyard by Marriott Edinburgh, a 240-room hotel put up for sale by a CVC Marathon fund.
A portfolio built up since 2021
Blantyre Capital and Fairtree Hotel Investments formed a joint venture in 2021. They first acquired three hotels: Fonab Castle, Dunkeld House and the Daffodil. They then acquired Crerar Hotels in March 2023, then a family-owned business, and brought the three hotels into the group.
In 2025, Crerar Hotels refinanced its ten hotels with HSBC UK for £40 million, or around €46m. The financing was intended to fund the refurbishment and upgrading of the properties.
Analysis | A seller targeting several types of buyer
Analysis – The fund has held its first hotels for around five years, a typical holding period for a private equity investor. Being open to a hotel-by-hotel sale lets it attract both large investors seeking the whole portfolio and private or regional buyers interested in a single hotel.
Analysis – The sale comes at a time when funds are very active in UK luxury hospitality, as shown by Gencom’s acquisition of Rosewood London. The price finally achieved will show what investors are prepared to pay for leisure hotels in the Scottish Highlands and Islands.
At a glance by The Hospitality Tribune
Blantyre Capital markets Crerar Hotels portfolio
Seller: London-based private equity firm Blantyre Capital
Guide price: £90m (approx. €104m), around £152,500 per key
Scope: 10 hotels, about 590 rooms (9 in Scotland, 1 in the Lake District)
Largest asset: 100-room Dunkeld House Hotel
Sale structure: whole portfolio or individual hotels
Acquired in March 2023 with operating partner Fairtree Hotel Investments
