Knaresborough’s hospitality offering is undergoing something of a renaissance.
Last week 1858 bar and restaurant opened in the former NatWest bank on High Street.
On Monday, the historic Dower House will reopen as The Knaresborough Inn under new ownership.
Both venues have undergone major refurbishments to offer something more ambitious than the average hospitality business.
The new bar.
The Inn Collection Group, which bought The Knaresborough Inn along with the former George Hotel in Harrogate and the Ripon Spa Hotel, markets its venues as ‘inns with rooms’ rather than hotels.
Its business model therefore focuses as much on attracting local people for food and drink as it does on providing three-star accommodation for tourists.
The Knaresborough venue, which closed last summer, held a VIP preview day today.
It no longer has a spa and gym but the number of rooms has increased from 38 to 56. The inn will serve food seven days a week from morning to night and the outdoor area has been upgraded with more seating.
The outdoor area can seat 100 guests.
A spokesman said:
“The idea is that this is as much a place for locals as it is visitors.
“If you want cake and coffee in the afternoon, a breakfast before work, a quick lunch or a night out for a treat, we will cater for you.”
The Knaresborough Inn employs 47 staff and can seat 125 customers inside and 100 outside.
Operations manager Paul Brown (left) and general manager Ian Durrant toast the inn today.
A new portico entrance has been built on the Grade II-listed 15th century building.
General manager Ian Durrant said:
“This has been a year in the making and it’s wonderful for Knaresborough.
“I’m really excited because it’s a beautiful reincarnation of a well known venue.”
Guests at today’s VIP preview opening.
The Inn Collection Group, which is based in Newcastle, has 33 venues in northern England and north Wales, including eight in Yorkshire.
The Ripon Spa Hotel is due to reopen as the Ripon Inn in October. A precise date has not been revealed but it is expected to be in the second half of the month.
The Harrogate Inn, formerly the St George Hotel, reopened on July 3 after a 152-day refurbishment.
The former Dower House has a new name and look.
One of the rooms in what used to be the spa.
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Sneak peek: Transformed Harrogate hotel to re-open on Monday
A new chapter in the history of one of Harrogate’s most famous hotels will begin on Monday when it reopens with a new name and completely fresh look.
The Harrogate Inn, formerly known as the St George Hotel, is one of three major local hotels to have undergone multi-million pound renovations by the Inn Collection Group.
Ripon Spa Hotel and Dower House will re-open shortly under new names the Ripon Inn and the Knaresborough Inn.
The Harrogate Inn has a new main entrance on Crescent Gardens that leads into a bar called the Barking George — a nod to its former name.
Visitors will walk into the Barking George bar.
The adjoining area, which used to serve food to hotel guests, has been transformed into a food and beverage area called Stray Away, which the owners hope will become a destination for local people.
It will serve breakfasts, morning and afternoon teas and coffees, lunches and evening meals in the hope of attracting customers for 18 hours a day. It also has a separate Sunday menu.
Six new ground floor suites have increased the number of rooms from 90 to 96.
One of the new suites.
The outdoor terrace has been redeveloped and the Ripon Road entrance will lead to another smaller bar. The existing rooms have undergone only minor changes.
An Inn Collection Group spokesman said:
“The reason we pitch ourselves as inns rather than hotels is because we make the space work from breakfast to night.
“It’s a new place to come and eat and drink. We want it to become a destination for locals to enjoy as much as hotel guests. Ultimately, that’s what will make us successful rather than just relying on high season visitors.”
Andrew Robson, senior communications and marketing executive and Louise Stewart, property director at the Inn Collection Group outside the Harrogate Inn.
The Newcastle-based Inn Collection Group has 32 venues in northern England, including eight in North Yorkshire.
Henry White, who previously managed the company’s Commissioners Quay in Blyth, has been appointed general manager.
The new name is displayed.
It will be the first of three local Inn Collection Group properties to reopen this summer.
The Knaresborough Inn — formerly the Dower House — is scheduled to reopen on August 20. It will have 57 rooms, compared with 41 previously, largely due to the closure of the spa.
The reopening of the Ripon Inn — formerly Ripon Spa Hotel — was scheduled for August 20 but may not happen until early September. The number of rooms will increase from 41 to 57.
The domed roof remains.
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Harrogate’s Nelson Inn sold to pub restaurant chain
The Nelson Inn on the A59 is set to reopen in the autumn following a takeover by a pub restaurant chain.
Brunning and Price said today it was “thrilled” to have received the keys for the 18th century inn, which has changed hands several times in recent years.
The new owners have a portfolio of 80 pub restaurants, including the Highwayman in Kirkby Lonsdale and the Bull at Broughton.
They plan to spend the next few months refurbishing the Nelson Inn, which is on Skipton Road in Killinghall, before a planned reopening in early October.
Former popular Harrogate French restaurant Chez la Vie owned the pub in 2019, before new owners took it on in 2020, which also saw a sweet shop and ice cream parlour launched at the site on Skipton Road.
Mary Willcock, managing director at Brunning and Price, said:
‘’You’ll find us traditional in style, with wooden floors, bookcases, open fires, trusty old furniture and lots of rugs and plants. We love to restore old buildings, learning about the character they have within them.
“Being foodies, our menu, which will be published on our website each morning, will be something of an eclectic mix, striking a balance of hearty pub classics, complemented by more exotic influences from around the world.
“We think simple things done well are often the best and we want to create a friendly atmosphere in attractive surroundings where locals, regulars and new customers can meet, eat, drink and relax. That for us, is what being a good pub in the heart of its community is all about.’’
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The Nelson Inn was built around 1776 and remained a private house until early in the 19th century.
For much of its early years the pub used to be more or less a farm with a sack over the door where locals came in for a drink.
It received its name around 1805 when Nelson was victorious at the Battle of Trafalgar and it has remained all that time, except for its short spell as Chez La Vie in 2019.
Brunning and Price is set to launch a recruitment drive for the pub, with job opportunities including management, chefs, front of house, cleaners and gardeners.