Room for success at the double (From Gazette & Herald)

Room for success at the double

An historic Ryedale hotel is doubling its capacity for residential visitors thanks to a major building extension.

The White Swan at Pickering received glowing praise in the 2005 Good Hotel Guide, and is one of only five Yorkshire properties given a star rating by the 2005 Good Pub Guide.

Owner Victor Buchanan decided that the only way to satisfy increasing demand was to take radical action and double capacity at the hotel to 21 rooms.

"For the past eight months, the hotel has been like a building site," said Mr Buchanan.

"But when the dust sheets were recently pulled back, they revealed a glorious new extension to the hotel."

Local accountant Nevil Pearce, a partner at UHY Calvert Smith, has advised the Buchanan family for years.

He said: "This is a real business success story. Competition from budget hotels has steadily increased in recent years and many quality hotels have suffered from poor occupancy levels. The White Swan has bucked this trend.

"The owners have exploited all marketing disciplines to the full. They have actively promoted the hotel over the web and undertake structured mailshot activity. They have been rewarded with exceptionally high levels of occupancy."

He added: "They are to be applauded and the unveiling of the extension is a tribute to their tenacity."

The nine new rooms have been created in the old coaching stable block of the inn. The large rooms are a contemporary offspring from the traditional inn.

They include all sorts of up-to-the-minute luxuries including underfloor heated York Stone, multi channel LCD screen television with DVD and CD player, well stocked mini bars and state of the art bathrooms with deep baths to plunge into and a large wet room shower.

There is also a new suite which contains a separate upstairs bedroom with French windows, a wet room with double shower and large free standing bath in your own sitting room.

Updated: 13:19 Wednesday, June 22, 2005