Some £600m of independent UK hotels changed hands last year as investors sought to benefit from the booming domestic holiday market.

The figure represents a 330% increase compared with pre-pandemic sales in 2019, according to Knight Frank. Two-thirds of sales – about £400m – were in the country house hotel market.

One on offer for £6m is Ston Easton Park in Somerset, an estate with a Grade I listed house. The price is a snip compared with its original £9.5m asking price.

The Palladian mansion was the childhood home of the Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg. His father, William Rees-Mogg, editor of The Times from 1967 to 1981, bought it in 1964 and saved it from dereliction.

The Times (£)