Eyes on next project as hotel nears completion

Aug 29 2008 by Graeme King, The Journal

THE new £2m Hotel du Vin in Newcastle is now just six weeks away from opening, 10 months after fire ripped through the building – but already chief executive Robert Cook is considering a new site in Durham.

The Newcastle hotel, being completed in the historic Allan House on City Road, will be the biggest outlet in the chain which is owned by the same company as Malmaison.

Contractors from Metnor Construction are currently finishing off the high-specification rooms, bistro and courtyard landscaping in the centre of the building which is due to open on October 14.

Cook, who is based in Northumberland, says he considers it to be the best hotel his company has developed, but he is already searching for another site for the next Hotel du Vin in Durham.

The chief executive said he had come close to securing a building in the city before, but that deal had fallen through.

Now he is considering another property, but is not prepared to say where as yet.

“We are looking at another property in Durham this week. This is a very buoyant part of the world which has shaken off the label of suffering in recessions. We have an aspiration to have a Hotel du Vin in Durham,” he said.

“The brand does extremely well in a cathedral or university town. It will do well in Newcastle, with two big universities, culture, rugby and football.”

The new Hotel du Vin in Newcastle will have more than 40 bedrooms.

The building was originally supposed to be ready to open this summer, but a major fire last November put back the schedule by four months.

Cook said: “I was on the train to London when I heard. I got off at Durham and came back up again. It was scary to see what was happening. It was a delay which we didn’t want, but these things happen and we bounce back.”

The 1864 structure of Allan House, originally the home of the Tyne Tees Shipping Company, has had most of its structure revealed in the new hotel, with rooms and suites created to take advantage of the picture windows facing up and down the Tyne.

The rear section of the hotel has been built with a timber frame to be as lightweight as possible, as it has been constructed over the old coal tunnel which runs from Spital Tongues down to the Tyne.