Historic Harrogate hotel is set for major refurbishment if closure goes ahead say owners

The Inn Collection Group revealed details of a major refurbishment which will take place after a temporary closure of the Georgian property which plays a big part in Harrogate’s visitor economy and whose heritage can be traced to the 18th century.

Andrew Robson, The Inn Collection Group's Senior Communications & Marketing Executive said: “The consultation process with staff is still ongoing around a proposed closure commencing on January 30 to allow for a 16-week period of refurbishment.

"Should the closure go ahead, the refurbishment is going to see multi-million pound revamp of the ground floor spaces.

"This will create an additional six bedrooms and a bring the food and beverage offering into our hospitality model.

"There will also be works to areas such as the kitchen areas to make them better suited to service this.”

The owners of the St George say they hope to be able to take many of the current staff back on board when the hotel reopens.

"In terms of the reopening, those plans are still being formulated as part of the process,” said Mr Robson.

"There would be a hope many of the current team would remain with us which would then impact on any recruitment process.”

The 90-bedroom hotel, located opposite the Royal Hall on Ripon Road, grew out of the Chequers Inn and was renamed after George III's gift of the Stray to the people of Harrogate in 1778.

It was enlarged several times during the 19th century and renamed the St George shortly before the First World War

Since it became the subject in 2018 of a major rebranding exercise involving top magazine Country Living, the St George has undergone a series of ownership changes.

Its stop-start history continued during the challenging lockdown times of the Covid pandemic.

But in February 2022 it was sold again, this time to The Inn Collection Group.

The purchase of The Hotel St George followed the group’s acquisitions of other hotel gems in the Harrogate district – including The Dower House in Knaresborough and The Ripon Spa Hotel in Ripon.

The award-winning northern pub company bought the prestigious hotel for an undisclosed value, as it sought to broaden its customer base across Yorkshire.

As well as cementing The Inn Collection Group’s standing as the pub company with the highest number of bedrooms per site in the country, it also announced its intention to launch refurbishment programmes for all three of its hotels in the Harrogate district.

But the company hopes all three will reopen well before the end of 2023.

Andrew Robson, The Inn Collection Group's Senior Communications & Marketing Executive, said: "In terms of Dower House and Ripon Spa, those works are progressing well and we’re anticipating reopening both in the second part of the year."

To that end, the St George is still taking bookings from future guests, added Mr Robson.

"It's open and welcoming guests as normal now and we are taking new reservations for guests booking beyond the dates that are anticipated to be affected by the closure.

"We will communicate with any guests booked to stay with usonce the consultation process is complete.”