Aria Resorts is continuing its £30 million investment plan for the Isle of Wight with its most recent hotel acquisition. The hotel group bought out the Priory Bay Hotel from Andrew Palmer, founder of the Covent Garden Soup Company and member of the Better Ferry Campaign, with plans to redevelop the property.
The beachfront property currently has 44 guestrooms and 18 suites on 48 acres of land. Scheduled to reopen in early 2019, the revamped hotel near Bembridge will have a new spa and restaurants. Lakehouse premium lodges will also be added to the property while existing cottages will be updated.
Before this recent acquisition, Aria Resorts bought the Rookley Country Park, St Helens Holiday Park and The Bay Colwell resort earlier this year. The group also plans to refurbish these other recently acquired properties.
According to the company, this investment over the next four years will generate approximately 150 new jobs on the island. They will include managerial, sales, housekeeping and entertainment and activities roles at the hotels.
"Our aim is to build one of the UK's leading, responsible holiday operators by investing millions of pounds into upgrading facilities on the Isle of Wight," Edward Andrews, a director at Aria Resorts, told On the Wight. The company also aims to capitalize on the rising number of British vacationers in the UK.
Aria Resorts' portfolio also includes North Yorkshire's Bay Filey, a development with vacation cottages, apartments and beach houses and Gara Rock resort in Salcombe, Devon, which the group is also expanding.