Fawsley Hall Hotel & Spa reveals £4.5m restoration

Hand Picked Hotels is to unveil the £4.5m restoration of four-red-AA-star, 60-bedroom Fawsley Hall near Silverstone, Northamptonshire, 18 months after acquiring the property from entrepreneur Simon Lowe.

It features the vaulted Tudor Great Hall, the two-AA-rosette Cedar restaurant, a private cinema, spa and self-contained Knightly Court function suite.

Julia Hands chairman and chief executive of Hand Picked Hotels, said the property, which officially re-launches tomorrow, was "extremely tired" at the time of the acquisition and desperately in need of investment. "The hotel is a perfect fit for the group, with bags of history. It is now a beautiful leisure hotel and wedding venue, as well as having the significant bonus of a spa and conference suites."

The restoration of Fawsley Hall has taken place alongside the on-going renovation of sister property, the 37-bedroom Crathorne Hall hotel, where a fire broke out in October last year. Although the main part of the hotel, comprising 20 bedrooms, reopened the following month, the East Wing - where the blaze started, probably as the result of a faulty electric fly killer in the roof - was extensively damaged and is still closed to the public.

"We have had to install temporary kitchen and boilers and are hoping to have the whole hotel open again by September or October," said Hands.

The next major refurbishment work for the 21-strong regional hotel group will involve the leisure club at the St Pierre Park hotel and golf resort in Guernsey.

Looking ahead, Hands said that she was always reviewing new hotels coming onto the market and there is the possibility that one or two properties could be added the group later this year.

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Hand Picked hotels acquires Guernsey's St Pierre Park hotel >>