A £170K joint investment by star Pubs & Bars and licensees, Jo and Justin Chad, has seen five luxurious boutique bedrooms created at the popular village dining pub, The Gregory Pub & Dining Rooms in Harlaxton, enabling it to offer guests overnight accommodation for the first time.
As a result of the addition of the new rooms, the dining pub will now open to the public for breakfast and all day coffees, teas and snacks. The Gregory is also employing a further four members of staff including an extra chef, front-of-house team member and housekeeping support.
The rooms, which they believe to be the best in the area, have been individually designed to include the latest technology. All feature 42 inch LCD TVs, have Roberts Dreamdock radios/ipods docking stations, Dualit espresso machines serving both tea and coffee, and drench showers. The two largest rooms have contemporary freestanding baths in the rooms as well as showers in the bathrooms and all rooms have Orla Kiely luxury bathroom toiletries.
Jo Chad, who also runs the highly successful Chequers Inn at Woolsthorpe by Belvoir, said of the investment: “We set out to create bedrooms that we would want to stay in, so no expense has been spared. We’re charging £90 B&B for three of the rooms and £120 B&B for the two larger rooms with baths. We will also offer attractive dinner, bed & breakfast rates, a competitive rate for business travellers as well as a value for money Sunday night deal.
“We’re always being asked if we can add bedrooms by people who are dining at the pub, especially business people staying neaby. We’ve grown our business every year since 2003 throughout the recession. Now seemed the ideal time to invest in the pub and the local economy as we feel confident about the area’s future and are picking up on a positive feel-good factor from the many business people who dine at The Gregory.
“The Gregory has a great edge of village location on the A607, so ideally located for the different type of customers we attract, from people at the university at Harlaxton Manor, to villagers and local businesses.”
Reinforcing its strong links with Harlaxton Manor, all the rooms are named after people connected with the Manor. These include: Gregory Gregory, who built the current manor; architects Anthony Salvin and William Burn; Violet Van Der Elst who restored the manor in the 1930s having made her money from developing the first brushless shaving cream, and a retired principal of Harlaxton Manor University, Dr Gordon Kingsley, who supported Jo and Justin when they first took on the pub seven years ago.
Lawson Mountstevens, managing director of Star Pubs & Bars said: “Heineken is a passionate supporter of the great British pub, of which The Gregory Pub and Dining Rooms is a great example, thanks to Jo and Justin’s hard work, Its top quality food and drink and location on the edge of the Vale of Belvoir, two minutes from the A1 and five minutes from Grantham, will together with the luxurious finish ensure the rooms are an immediate hit”.