Star-Power Stays: The Five Best Celebrity-Owned Hotels

From the HotelsCombined Blog:  by David Haddad 

We’re not quite sure what it is, but celebrities  seem to have a real knack for the hotel business. Robert De Niro, Francis Ford Coppola and Richard Gere are just a few of the personalities who’ve made the successful leap from movie stardom to hotel proprietorship.  With so much star-powered accommodation options on offer, our friend David Haddad from Publiseek was kind enough to help us out and take a look at the luminary hotel owners who’ve done the hospitality industry especially proud:

Andy Murray – Cromlix Hotel, Scotland

Cromlix Hotel

Wimbledon Champion Andy Murray made his first foray into the hospitality industry earlier this year when he acquired the Cromlix Hotel in Perthshire. The hotel was the venue where Andy’s brother Jamie married his Colombian wife Alejandra Gutierrez in 2010. Murray has announced that the refurbished hotel will create 40 jobs in the local community and that the hotel will trade directly with other local businesses. The Cromlix is just five miles from Murray’s hometown of Dunblane and has extensive woodland and gardens, around 5o acres, including its own trout fishing lake.

Bono and The Edge – The Clarence Hotel, Ireland

The Clarence Hotel

Unlike Andy Murray, the U2 men Bono and The Edge are experienced hoteliers having bought The Clarence Hotel back in 1992. When the pair took over the hotel, it had 70 bedrooms and a two-star rating. The musicians remodelled the venue, enlarging some of the bedrooms to give the hotel a luxury feeling, and the property has  emerged from that process with 49 bedrooms and a 4-star rating. The hotel is currently undergoing further renovations as chefs Oliver and Rory Carville prepare to launch a new on-site restaurant.

Clint Eastwood – Mission Ranch, California, USA

Mission Ranch

The movie star, acclaimed film director and former politician owns the Mission Ranch in Carmel, California. Eastwood has a long association with Carmel; he was elected mayor of the exclusive community in 1986. The Mission Ranch is a former dairy farm that now hosts guests who come for the upmarket rooms, the private tennis and sports club, the Mission Ranch restaurant and the breath-taking views over the sheep meadow down to the Pacific Ocean. The ranch has a range of individualistic accommodations including a Honeymoon Cottage with its own flower garden and a converted hayloft complete with a whirlpool spa.

The Marley Family – Marley Resort and Spa, Bahamas

Marley Resort & Spa

If it’s guaranteed sunshine and a laid back Caribbean attitude you are looking for, then the resort owned by Bob Marley’s family on Cable Beach, Nassau is just your thing. Marley’s music is the theme across the hotel, from the Stir It Up Bar to the Simmer Down Gourmet Caribbean Restaurant. The resort has just 16 rooms in this former governor’s mansion which Rita Marley purchased in 1982 after the family had enjoyed many vacations there. The resort also features the Natural Mystic Spa where guests can relax and enjoy the Wata Passage hydro-therapy room before spending a stress-free day on the brilliant white Cable Beach.

Robert Redford – Sundance Resort, Utah, USA

Sundance Resort

The Sundance Film Festival is more widely known than the resort that hosts it, but Redford’s association with the property goes back to 1969. Double Oscar winner Redford loves the name of his favourite acting role from Butch Cassidy and the Sunshine Kid so much that he also named a movie theatre chain, film institute and TV channel after him. The Sundance Resort really comes to life in the winter when it offers skiing and snowboarding on 42 different runs in its 450 acres of mountain terrain. The adventurous skier can also try floodlight night skiing in the height of the winter season. The resort has two restaurants and accommodation ranging from mountain view hotel rooms to private luxury mountain cabins.

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