The deal, announced today by agent Knight Frank, who acted for the purchaser Von Essen Hotels included the sale of Cliveden�s sister luxury hotel, The Royal Crescent, a luxury Georgian hotel located on the world�s finest crescent in Bath. 

The Von Essen Hotel Collection, a group of six luxury period hotels dotted throughout England together with Thorne Island set off the coast of Pembrokeshire.

Martin Rogers, Head of Knight Frank Hotels Division commented that, �the acquisition of these two internationally famous hotels fits perfectly with the existing Von Essen portfolio and provides opportunities to reposition some existing hotels into the Cliveden Group�.

Cliveden

One of England's finest country Houses, Cliveden has been a centre of influence, wealth and political power for over 300 years as home to three Dukes, an Earl, the famous Astor family and a Prince of Wales. 

Originally built by the second Duke of Buckingham in 1666 as a country retreat and pleasure-ground, Cliveden has played host to almost every British Monarch since George I, Queen Victoria in particular adored it, visiting as often as she could. She once commented: �It is a perfection of a place�.

Cliveden perhaps reached its zenith as the family home of Nancy, Lady Astor, a charismatic American socialite and the first woman MP in the British parliament. Among Nancy's distinguished acquaintances were President Roosevelt, George Bernard Shaw, Winston Churchill and Charlie Chaplin � all of whom stayed at the House.

Since 1996, Cliveden has held court as the most prestigious and luxurious five-star country hotel in the UK and is internationally renowned for its opulence and fantastical setting.

Guests are made comfortable in one of 38 individually appointed rooms and suites, each featuring period and commissioned furniture that breathes history, as do the Library (originally designed by the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland), The Tote Room (Lord Astor�s private study), The Boudoir and The East Wing. 

William Astor, the 4th Viscount Astor, once commented of Cliveden: �It is a house in which to entertain and be entertained�. And guests are never disappointed as they are treated to 376 landscaped acres on the banks of the Thames including tennis and swimming facilities. There are five richly decorated dining rooms, their magnificent décor epitomised by The French Dining Room featuring panelling from Madame de Pompadour�s Chateau d�Asnieres. 

The estate also features its own flotilla of vintage boat launches for cruising the Thames together with Spring Cottage, a secluded hideaway cottage fronting the Thames, which comes complete with its own butler and was once the much trusted secret meeting place for Queen Victoria and the Duchess of Sutherland.

The sale also included the Cliveden Art Collection featuring over 400 of England�s greatest works.
 
The Royal Crescent Hotel

The Royal Crescent Hotel is another 5-star hotel steeped in history and awards, most recently being voted in the top 10 of UK Leisure Hotels by readers of Condé Nast Traveller 2002 and given a 5 star and blue ribbon by RAC. 

Situated at the centre of one of the world's finest crescent in the Georgian town of Bath, the 45 room hotel was built in the reign of George III as stately individual homes and is considered one of the great set pieces of European architecture.

Its rooms are lavishly decorated with specially commissioned period furnishings, taking guests back to the time when the Duke of York, Frederick Augustus, called No 16 Royal crescent home.

The main restaurant, Pimpernel�s, was named so after the hotel�s Number 16 residence was used as a setting for the fictional character Scarlet Pimpernel who in story returned to live there after his exploits in revolutionary France.

Featuring a library, conservatory, gym, bath house and 1923 river launch, The Royal Crescent is also one of the only hotels in the world that has its own hot air balloon.