By Peter Woodifield
April 16 (Bloomberg) -- Monkey Island, a five-acre island with a 26-bedroom hotel in the middle of the U.K.'s River Thames, was put up for sale for 7.5 million pounds ($15 million) by its Dubai-based owners.
The island, reachable only by walkway, boat or helicopter, is 30 miles west of London near the village of Bray, London-based real estate brokers Knight Frank LLC said in a statement today. It has been owned since 1999 by the Al Habtoor Group from Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.
``It is attracting a lot of interest,'' Henry Jackson, a surveyor in Knight Frank's hotels unit, said in a telephone interview from London.
Investors spent a record $27.4 billion buying European hotels last year, according to real estate brokers Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. Property buyers are seeking alternatives to shops and offices and hotel operators are looking to focus on managing their assets.
The Monkey Island hotel was built as a fishing lodge about 280 years ago and has a Grade 1 heritage listing, which carries the greatest level of restrictions for owners wishing to renovate sites deemed to be historically significant. The hotel has been used as an inn since 1840 and includes a 90-seat restaurant.
The island was once known as Monks Eyot, and was used by monks for fishing from as early as 1197, according to the hotel's Web site.
Al-Habtoor has owned and operated hotels across the Middle East for 25 years. It recently opened its first theme park in Lebanon.
To contact the reporter on this story: Peter Woodifield in Edinburgh at pwoodifield@bloomberg.net .
Source : http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=aGxlDQfX69lg&refer=uk
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