A HOTEL at Bournemouth’s East Cliff is set for a £3million investment after the owners decided to sell.

James Gordon has sold the Queen’s Hotel on Meyrick Road after 13 years in charge, but now he’s having a break and “looking for new projects.”

Mr Gordon said: “We built up from a good hotel to a better hotel.

“And now we’re passing it over and these guys will make it an even better hotel.

“The beauty of the Queen’s is the ground floor. The ground floor space is very large and can hold a number of functions at any one time.

“You’ve also got the spa downstairs and 109 bedrooms on top.

“It’s overwhelming. The sale hasn’t quite sunk in. It is going to be beneficial for all the staff, and Bournemouth, and the East Cliff.”

Mr Gordon ran the hotel along with his wife Layla, and parents Nick and Jane. His sister, Hollie, ran the spa.

Buying the hotel is Toby Barnes-Taylor and Janine Powell, partners at Nq2 who “deliver and design hotels”, with the support of Accor Hotels.

Mr Barnes-Taylor said: “We were attracted because of the amount of investment in Bournemouth. Both business and leisure are growing.

“We only ever wanted to transform the hotel to become a four star and we are very fortunate to have the support of Accor Hotels and to sign a contract with them to turn the hotel into a four-star Mercure hotel.

“It’s a £3 million investment. The hotel will still be open when we are working. Part of our investment is in our staff as, frankly, the most important aspect of the whole hotel. We are bringing in a training team to help bring our staff with us.

“We are keeping the staff and we may well have a recruiting drive. We are going to start work immediately and finish work by the summer."