Lakes hotel development takes shape with Yorkshire Bank funding

29/09/2011

Work is underway to develop an 80-bedroom flagship Lake District hotel after the owners secured a multi-million pound funding package from Yorkshire Bank.

The Waterside Hotel, located on the edge of Grasmere in the heart of the Lake District National Park, is set to reopen as a four to five-star property in summer 2012.

It will provide 80 bedrooms with lake and fell views, wedding and function facilities and a high-quality spa and health facility.

The hotel was acquired by the Harwood family in 2006 with the specific intention of demolition and rebuild. A new 4,190 sq metres building is being added to the shell of the original hotel.

The new Waterside Hotel & Spa will be a significant local employer creating 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.”

Work to erect the steel structure of the new building is well underway and contractors hope to have it watertight within the next few weeks, ready for internal works to commence.

The new section is being built with traditional Lakeland stone to match the existing 2,534 sq metres hotel building which has stood at the site since 1855.

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.

As well as The Waterside Hotel, the family currently owns the Craig Manor Hotel, Bowness, which it has operated for the last 18 years.