End of an era at Seldson Park as course closes following DeVere sale

Ninety-two years of golfing history came to an end at Selsdon Park Golf Club in Surrey on December 31 when the course on the historic Croydon estate closed for what is believed to be the final time.

The 150-room hotel and its 200 acres of grounds, including the parkland golf course, were sold by De Vere Hotels to hospitality group Aprirose for an undisclosed sum at the end of last year, with the new owners undertaking a major renovation of the property before re-opening, although no date has been set.

Aprirose has made no comment about the future of the golf course, which first opened in 1929, but it looks unlikely that it will ever re-open. A letter sent by the club’s golf manager to members late last year advised that there would be ‘no more golf after the end of December’ and that the hotel and golf course has been sold to a third party and is being closed for a full refurbishment’.

Manish Gudka, chief executive of Aprirose, said: “As part of our ongoing strategy to grow our portfolio of high-quality hospitality and leisure assets, we are pleased to have acquired Selsdon Park Hotel. The estate represents a great fit for Aprirose – it’s a large, well-located site and we’re excited by the potential to develop and enhance the existing amenities.”

Aprirose currently manages 21 properties for brands such as Delta Hotels by Marriott, DoubleTree by Hilton and the 19-strong QHotels portfolio, including Oulton Hall in Yorkshire and Slaley Hall in Northumberland. In 2018 Aprirose also invested in a separate lifestyle concept, Birch, which is believed to the chosen management team to run Selsdon Park in its new guise.

Principal Hotels bought the Selsdon in 1997, and over the next 20 years they spent £3.5 million on various refurbishments and expansions, particularly of its health club, and re-branding it the De Vere Estate. But in the middle of the latest £1 million works, in 2020, Covid hit with unsustainable losses leading to the sale.

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