Sneak Peek: the new Ripon Inn hotel

Invited guests got a sneak preview today of the new Ripon Inn hotel.

The Inn Collection Group, bought the former landmark Ripon Spa Hotel in June 2021 and began redevelopment work 13 months ago. The group’s managing director says the final bill for the work has been ‘close to eight figures’.

The new Ripon Inn has 58 bedrooms, two bars and will employee 78 staff.

Today, press and guests were invited to take a look – paying guests will arrive from Monday.  Here are some images of what they can expect when they arrive:

The hotel main bar 

A family bedroom 

One of the bedroom’s en-suite bathrooms

Sean Donkin, the Inn Collection Group’s CEO, told the Stray Ferret that they hope the hotel will bring economic benefits to Ripon:

“We’ve operated in similar sized areas before and the provision of overnight accommodation is key if you are going to do something meaningful.. If you’re 80% occupied you’re talking about a couple of hundred people staying in the city who otherwise would have stayed outside it.

“We don’t expect people to be sitting here all day, we expect people to walk into the city and visit local cafes, restaurants and pubs.”

Mayor of Ripon councillor Sid Hawke says a hotel of The Ripon Inn’s size has been desperately needed:

“This is an inspiration to Ripon, it is what Ripon has needed – when you look around, there is nothing in the same line as this.

“If you have a big occasion in Ripon, there is nowhere to stay and this is what is what is needed.

“It’s wonderful that it’s been converted from an old building to a modern building”

The Northumberland-headquartered group also bought and redeveloped the The Knaresborough Inn – formerly the Dower House and The Harrogate Inn, formerly the George Hotel in Harrogate.

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