Is there any limit to the growth of the Von Essen Hotels group? Its appetite for top country house establishments – which often maintain the most eminent restaurants in the areas concerned – appears to be insatiable.

And now the Northern Echo brings news of the acquisition – for an undisclosed sum – of not just Seaham Hall (an eminent spa-hotel in County Durham) but also its sister establishment The Samling (a trendy destination overlooking Windermere).

Von Essen had already announced the intention to make a significant number of acquisitions during 2008, even though it was already an operator on quite a scale. With seven properties included, for example, Von Essen was already established as the most numerically significant member of the celebrated Relais & Châteaux marketing consortium.

We all know that, generally speaking, chain ownership is rarely conducive to maintaining the highest culinary standards: Von Essen has yet to prove that it is any exception to that general rule.