THE three-star Priory Hotel in Bury St Edmunds has gone up for sale with an asking price of �2.25million.

The hotel, in Mildenhall Road, Bury, is based on an 18th Century Grade II-listed building, set in private gardens and grounds and besides its three-star rating from the AA also holds two AA rosettes for its Garden Restaurant

It is being marketed by the Ipswich office of specialist hospitality sector agent Christie & Co, which also handled the sale when the priory was acquired by its current owner, Peter Hobday, in 2008.

The hotel, which is part of the Best Western marketing consortium, has 36 en suite letting bedrooms, extensive restaurant and lounge bar areas together with a number of meeting and function rooms used for meetings, private dining and weddings.

Tim Gooding of Christie & Co said: “The Priory Hotel is one of the most attractive country house hotels in the region.

“We believe that we will generate substantial interest because of the quality of the property and the business potential it represents. Market conditions remain challenging in the commercial property market but we are already being approached by a number of interested parties.”

Mr Gooding added: ‘It’s very much business as usual and we would like to reiterate that the hotel is to be sold as a going concern and therefore all ongoing business and bookings, together with the hotel’s employees, are perfectly safe and will be transferred on to the next owners, as always happens when a business is sold.”