Snowie snaps up £2 million hotel

Oct 22 2008 by Kaiya Marjoribanks, Stirling Observer Wednesday

BOUTIQUE hotel and restaurant Osta has been sold just three weeks after going on the market with a price tag of almost £2 million.

The new owner is Adamo Hotels, whose chairman is local businessman Euan Snowie.

Property consultancy Knight Frank, who handled the sale on behalf of Morris Inns Group Ltd, confirmed the deal this week.

Mr Snowie said: “With the Queens Hotel in Bridge of Allan just finished refurbishment and with another new hotel in Stirling to open in the near future, Osta offered too good an opportunity to miss.

“The fantastic condition of the building made it easy to move quickly on the transaction.

“I have an excellent management team in place and the obvious synergy of having another boutique hotel round the corner fits perfectly with my overall expansion plans for Adamo Hotels.

“I plan to continue running Osta in its current format for the next few months and then I’ll review customer opinions before making any fundamental changes.”

Osta has occupied the B-listed Craigs house since spring 2006.

Knight Frank partner David Reid said: “Literally within a few weeks of going on the open market I had four sets of buyers seeking to purchase Osta, which is without doubt one of the most admired and handsome buildings in Central Scotland.

“Morris Inns had transformed the former Bank of Scotland regional head office into an absolutely beautiful boutique hotel.

“It just goes to show that quality will always sell, even in this difficult market.

“It was the speed with which Euan Snowie and his team moved which proved attractive to Morris Inns and persuaded them to accept the offer over others.”