Plans for a £13m expansion of a County Durham hotel could create a luxury spa, health club and dozens of new bedrooms.
Hardwick Hall Hotel near Sedgefield has submitted plans which will breathe new life into buildings that have lain empty for more than 60 years, as well as creating or sustaining 140 temporary construction jobs and 63 new jobs once completed. The spa development will include a 25m swimming pool, a gym, aerobics studio, spa bath house, thermal suite a swim in/swim out pool and spa garden.
It will also offer 13 treatment rooms, relaxation areas, changing facilities and a restaurant with private dining options.The application to County Durham Council planners includes a proposal for an additional 35 bedrooms, which will be built on two storeys in the style of a coach house around a courtyard which will also house the main spa pool.
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There will be 33 premier rooms, with Juliet balconies on the upper level and private garden space for the ground floor along with two large suites.
The designs have been created to ensure they are in keeping with the existing look of the hotel with materials having been “carefully selected to be sympathetic to and complement the existing hotel and setting.”
The plans were first revealed in accounts for Ramside Estates, in which the company, which also owns Ramside Hall Hotel and Golf Club, Bowburn Hall and a number of other leisure venues around the region, said the firm had already carried out a series of significant investments at its properties in recent years. Recent investments have included the opening of an additional wing of rooms, a second championship golf course, an award-winning spa and a collection of luxury treehouses at Ramside Hall.
The firm’s owner, John Adamson, told in the accounts how the company was planning further investments, having completed several projects put on hold during the pandemic, including five new Ramside treehouses and two new deluxe bedrooms at The Impeccable Pig boutique hotel and restaurant in County Durham.
Mr Adamson said: “The proposed development supports Visit County Durham ambition to increase the visitor economy while also adding to more beds for visitors to the county. It will be a flagship development for the area which will absolutely create more awareness and drive more visitors which is positive not just for the hotel but for the county as a whole.
“We look forward to Durham County Council giving it the green light so we can get started on bringing something really exceptional to the area.”
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