Family seals funding deal for Lakes hotel

CONSTRUCTION work has moved up a gear after a family leisure business secured a multi-million pound funding deal to renovate and expand a Lake District Hotel.

The Harwood family bought the Victorian Waterside Hotel on the edge of Grasmere five years ago, and their plans to redevelop it into a  80-bedroom four to five star property were delayed by planning objections over its size and scale.

The project – which includes the addition of a new spa- has now been approved and with the support of Yorkshire Bank, it will reopen next summer.

A new 4,190 sq metres building is being added to the shell of the original hotel. It is being built with traditional Lakeland stone to match the existing 2,534 sq metres building which dates back to1855.
 
The new Waterside Hotel & Spa will create up to 70 full and part-time jobs.

Carol Barnes, business partner at Yorkshire Bank’s Lancaster Financial Solutions Centre which provided the funding, said: “The Harwood family has a long track record of developing and improving hotel businesses and The Waterside Hotel & Spa will undoubtedly be a welcome addition to the Lake District hotel market.”

Amanda Harwood said: “We are delighted with the opportunity to develop The Waterside into what we hope will be one of the Lake District’s finest hotels and we can’t wait to welcome our first guests next summer.”

The Harwood family has almost 40 years’ experience of owning and operating hotels in the Lake District and previously owned the Damson Dene in the Lyth Valley and Stonecross Manor, Kendal.

It currently owns the Craig Manor Hotel, Bowness, which it has operated for the last 18 years.