Scalford Country House Hotel up for sale

Scalford Country House Hotel, which was originally built at the beginning of the 20th century, is an 81-bedroom hotel which has been owned by the Singh family since 2018.

It had been established as a popular wedding and conference venue thanks to its Edwardian architecture, its landscaped grounds and picturesque views of the countryside.

The hotel then closed to guests in 2021 after being made available to house hundreds of refugees from Afghanistan, who were fleeing the Taleban takeover of their country, with the government keen to help those who had helped British forces there.

The owners then struck a private agreement the following year with the Home Office to provide temporary accommodation for people coming to the UK while their asylum application was decided. That contract ended at the start of this year and the hotel never reopened to guests.

The property is now being marketed for sale by the specialist hotels team at commercial real estate firm, Colliers.

Josh Sullivan, associate director at Colliers said: “The Scalford Country House Hotel is a classically Edwardian-period house steeped in history and previously a popular venue for leisure, wedding and business guests.

"Due to its proxmity to Melton Mowbray the site offers a number of value-add opportunities in the form of a repositioning of the existing asset or some form of planning gain and change of use, subject to the relevant permissions.’’

The property has function rooms able to seat up to 150 people, as well as a 600-capacity marquee which can be placed in the eight acres of ground and five additional staff rooms. The business, according to Colliers, ‘offers ample opportunity for creative management and refurbishment which would help to generate a strong multiple-channel revenue stream’.

It was once owned by Colonel Colman, a friend of Edward VIII, who stayed at the mansion during his courtship with Wallis Simpson.

The hotel ran into financial problems under the previous owners and closed in 2018 with staff and customers owed money.