WALTON HALL, a stately home near Stratford-upon-Avon once owned by the drag artist Danny La Rue, is to be turned into a luxury hotel, spa and conference centre.
Dawnay Shore Hotels (DSH), a hotel investment vehicle set up last year by Dawnay Day and Shore Capital, will announce today that it has bought the property for £15.2 million and intends to spend £10 million converting it into a 200-room hotel.
The mansion, built in the 1860s by Sir George Gilbert Scott, the architect famous for his Gothic style, is now used for timeshare and has several bars and restaurants, a swimming pool, tennis courts and a leisure club.
DSH, in which AIM-listed Hotel Corporation has a 49.9 per cent stake, will run it as part of Paramount Hotels. DSH bought Paramount for £215 million last July and acquired three hotels from Hanover International for £57 million in January, taking its total to 16. Walton Hall was leased to Mr La Rue in the 1970s and run as a nightclub with accommodation. It was dubbed Danny’s castle by Liberace. Mr La Rue sold the lease in 1983.