Agatha Christie inspiration Burgh Island for sale at £15m

An island and hotel where Agatha Christie based two of her novels is on the market for £15m.

Burgh Island, off Bigbury-on-Sea, South Devon, comes with a Grade II-listed white art deco hotel where the thriller writer stayed.

The island and hotel were sold in 2018 for about £8.4m.

Owner Giles Fuchs said the hotel, which won planning permission for a £7-10m redevelopment in 2022, was a "demanding mistress".

The tidal island is accessible by a vehicle called a sea tractor at high tides.

The planned upgrade includes a new west wing for the hotel, extensions to the bar and 14th Century Pilchard Inn on the island, new staff rooms, a spa and a new restaurant on the mainland.

"I'm not the man for that job because once you start that, you need to do the whole thing," Mr Fuchs, director of Office Space in Town, told BBC News.

"It's also a substantial amount of cash and I don't want to find another £7m, thanks very much.

"We've got a big business in London and I could divert funds but the hotel was always about a love story; it was saving something that had been around for years that our family fell in love with.

"To divert more funds doesn't make any sense to us. We want to buy more buildings in London."

He said the "huge amount of emotional effort" involved in running the hotel had "taken its toll".

"She's a demanding mistress and I ended up getting more and more involved at the expense of my life and other businesses," he said.

Turnover had risen from about £2.4m in 2018 to about £6.3m last year, he said, adding: "I'm really pleased we've turned it around."

A former care home earmarked for staff accommodation, as well as a cafe and Warren Cottage at Bigbury-on-Sea, were not part of the sale and would be leased to the hotel, he said.

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