The Savoy Hotel is set to remain operating as tourist accommodation after being sold to a private individual for an undisclosed sum.
The 55-bedroom hotel in St Helier, which has been run by the Lora family since 1993, was sold on Friday.
The deal was negotiated by Lucy Schooling, director at Quérée Property Consultants, who said: “While the new owners’ plans remain confidential, the continued operation of a well‐established hotel in favour of development to residential accommodation reflects the underlying strength and confidence in the island’s hospitality and tourism sector.”
Savoy Hotel director Roberto Lora added: “We are particularly delighted that the hotel will continue running to serve the island’s tourism and hospitality industry.
“We look forward to following the new owners’ plans as they develop and wish them every success.”
The 3,480m² site was put up for sale for more than £6 million in May 2025 and marketed as a “development opportunity”, after plans to demolish the hotel and replace it with 53 ‘eco-townhouses’ were approved in 2024 following a lengthy and contentious process.
In 2021, the Savoy owners announced plans to demolish the premises and replace it with a mix of a mix of one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments.
At the time, Mr Lora said the hotel had been “fighting a losing battle” to stay relevant to the ever-changing tourism market.
The first refusal was in April 2022 due to a lack of detail on the impact of the proposed development on neighbouring properties, as well as the absence of an ecological assessment, a waste management plan, and details of the project’s ‘percentage for art’ contribution.
A revised application published in November 2022 included these new elements, as well as an assessment of the impact of the proposed development on neighbours’ sunlight and daylight.
But those proposals were unanimously rejected in May 2023 amid continuing concerns over the impact on neighbouring properties.
Following the rejection, Mr Lora told Express he felt his family and business’s experience with Planning raised “concerns about the competence and effectiveness of the planning department”.
“We invested £250,000 and three years into developing a scheme to exit the hotel business and provide much-needed family homes in Jersey,” he said at the time.
“However, the planning department’s actions have needlessly hindered our efforts.
“We were ignored and stonewalled when we sought clarification on their reasons for wanting a complete withdrawal.”