The new owners of Barnsdale Hall Hotel are carrying out a thorough refurbishment of its bedrooms, restaurant and bar areas.
Dineshbhai and Savitaben Patel – co-founders of Leicester’s Cofresh snack foods empire – bought the country house hotel, which is on the banks of Rutland Water, last summer.
With England under the latest round of pandemic restrictions, the owners are investing in the business with a view getting paying guests back in this spring or summer.
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Hotel general manager John Higham said the room changes include new beds, carpets, furniture and curtains, while the bathrooms have already been upgraded.
Mr Higham, who joined the team 18 months ago, said: “It’s a very exciting time because the new owners want to regenerate the site.
“It hasn’t been used to its full potential and I think it can be a jewel in the crown of Rutland.
“We are refurbishing the restaurant, the kitchen and the bedrooms and hopefully that will all be done by June. The restaurant’s a building site but should be done by mid-April. We are also upgrading the front-of-house and launching a new website.
“The new owners want this to be their legacy for the next 50 years or so.”
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The 66-bedroom hotel includes a spa and hairdressers with timeshare lodges in the 55 acre grounds and planning permission for more.
Mr Higham said in normal times the hotel offers everything from wedding facilities – with space for outdoor ceremonies – to romantic breaks and corporate activities.
Typically it employs around 100 people, though most are on furlough right now as the business plans its reopening.
He said: “We are very confident that we will benefit from the staycation market this year and we did really well when things got going again last August.
“The first few weeks of July in 2020 were slow, until confidence started picking up again.
“After that we performed really well, but December was a bit of a let-down in the end because we weren’t able to host any Christmas parties and then, like everywhere, had to close down.”
He said when guests do return there will be digital thermometers to take temperatures and proper social distancing and cleaning regimes.
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He said: “If we open by the end of April we won’t have completed all the rooms by then, but hope they will all be finished by the end of May.”
Barnsdale Hall Hotel was on the market with Frank Knight with a guide price of £10 million when it was bought last year.
Prior to buying the hotel the Patel family sold Cofresh – famous for its bombay and balti mixes and more recent healthy snack ranges – to Vibrant Foods.
They bought the hotel as an investment from Derek Penman, chairman of the Penman Group and one of the 海角视频’s leading entrepreneurs.
Barnsdale Hall was built in 1890 as the family hunting lodge of the 6th Earl Fitzwilliam, where he hosted royalty, including Edward, the late Duke of Windsor along with other members of England’s aristocracy.
Under the Penman Group the hotel underwent extensive refurbishment to become a 55 acre lakeside resort which today offers 66 guest bedrooms, 49 timeshare lodges and apartments, 11 function suites, four bars and restaurants, a swimming pool, squash and tennis courts, air-conditioned studio, gym and spa.