Pub signs up with top brewer
A PICTURESQUE country hotel which closed earlier this year began a new chapter when it reopened yesterday under the Adnams banner. The Southwold-based brewer and hotelier has signed up to run Fritton House on the Somerleyton estate.
A PICTURESQUE country hotel which closed earlier this year began a new chapter when it reopened yesterday under the Adnams banner.
The Southwold-based brewer and hotelier has signed up to run Fritton House on the Somerleyton estate.
Operations at the nine-bedroom hotel were suspended in January as the economic crisis deepened, but Adnams is now set to breathe new life into the venue.
The move has led to the creation of about 25 full-time and 15 part-time local jobs and more opportunities may become available in the future.
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Francis Guildea, general manager for Adnams hotels, said that Fritton House complemented the company's other local venues and was an exciting addition to the brand.
He said: “We had a very short time to consider what we wanted to do with the business. We had four weeks from agreeing to opening, so it has been a huge challenge.
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“From the brand point of view we have The Swan and The Crown in Southwold and I think that Fritton House fits in very well with them and the Adnams brand. We even have a little beach here. There is a little cove on the lake that is covered with sand, so even though we are out in the countryside there is a touch of the coast here.”
Mr Guildea said that staff have been busy putting Adnams touches to the hotel, but he added that much of the building remained unchanged.
He said that the main change would be the feel of the business from being a boutique hotel to a more relaxed restaurant with rooms.
“We want people to feel they can just turn up and enjoy a pint,” he said. “They don't just have to come here for a special occasion like a birthday. The rooms are really lovely and are �120 per night for bed and breakfast. I think that is a fantastic price and customers will be genuinely impressed when they stay.”
The venue attracts wedding and office parties and this is an area of business that Mr Guildea said he hopes to see expand in the future.
The building, a 15th century former coaching inn at the gateway to the Fritton Lake country park on the Norfolk/Suffolk border, opened as a hotel in 2006 after �500,000 was spent to convert it.
