Fairmont St Andrews up for sale

Fairmont St Andrews is up for sale. The hotel and golf resort on the outskirts of St Andrews has gone on the market with a guide price of £35m.

The news comes hot on the heels of the destination’s parent company, St Andrews Bay Development, announcing dramatic losses. It haemorrhaged £12.8m for the financial year to December 31, 2012, having lost £3.8m the previous year.

The 520-acre resort comprises a five-star, 209-bedroom hotel, as well as two 18-hole championship standard golf courses, the Torrance and the Kittocks. The former has, for the past five years, staged the Scottish Senior Open and, at present, is scheduled to extend that run into a sixth year this August.

There are also four on-site restaurants, extensive conference facilities and a Spa.

Fairmont St Andrews has struggled financially in recent years.

Originally built by American entrepreneur Don Panoz, and opened in 2001 as St Andrews Bay, the hotel was sold to he hotel was sold to Apollo Real Estate Advisors, now part of Ares, in 2006, when management of the property was taken over by Fairmont Hotels & Resorts.

One of the world’s leading luxury hotel and resort operators, the Canadian-based Fairmont company operates properties in 19 countries. Its portfolio includes The Plaza in New York, the Savoy Hotel in London, and the Peace Hotel in Shanghai.

A winner of the ‘European Golf Resort of the Year’ award from the International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO) in 2012 and Golf Tourism Scotland’s ‘Golf Resort of the Year’ honour in 2011, Fairmont St Andrews has, nonetheless, struggled financially in recent years. The recent dramatic rise in its losses can be, in part, explained by a £10.6m impairment charge on the value of the property.

CBRE, one of the world’s leading commercial property and real estate services advisers, is handling the sale.

Fairmont St Andrews: Not the first for sale…

Fairmont St Andrews is by no means the first high-profile golf resort to come to market recently. The Turnberry Resort in Ayrshire was recently purchased by American tycoon Donald Trump, whilst just last month the De Vere hotel chain announced plans to sell off nine of its golf resorts, including the Cameron House Hotel on the banks of Loch Lomond.

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor