Boutique chain Hotel du Vin (voted Best Smaller Hotel Chain at this year’s Business Traveller Awards) has opened its latest property, a 38-room hotel in Poole.
Hotel du Vin unveiled it 12th property last week, with a spectacular opening party which drew hundreds of people from the local business community.
Positioned as a high-end leisure and business hotel, it’s not hard to see why Poole was chosen as the location for the new hotel, with the headquarters of luxury boatbuilders Sunseeker International next door, and huge yachts moored on the quay, minutes walk from the hotel. The property is also only a short drive from the prestigious Sandbanks neighbourhood.
Business Traveller was at the opening party for a sneak preview of the hotel’s facilities. The property is housed in what was formally the Mansion House hotel, a grade II-listed building, once the mayoral house and where leading merchants resided in the 18th century.
The 38 rooms have been sympathetically renovated with a distinct nautical design theme, some with the original style of the Mansion House, featuring beams and ornate iron Juliet balconies. All rooms feature Egyptian cotton linen, air conditioning, mini-bar, tea and coffee making facilities, bathrooms with heated floors, rain showers and “take me home” toiletries.
DVDs can be borrowed from reception, and as with all Hotel du Vin properties (and its sister brand Malmaison) wifi internet access is free throughout.
There are 12 standard rooms with queen sized beds and bath and showers (plus a further six with shower only), five superior rooms (with king size bed), three terrace doubles, eight deluxe doubles (king sized beds and free-standing baths) and two open plan studio suites. There is also an executive suite, which has two free-standing baths side by side opposite a plazma screen TV, and an 8ft wide bed.
Upstairs from reception there are two private dining areas in beautifully ornate nautically-themed rooms, while downstairs is the Bar and Bistro, constructed from restored oak barrels, with French windows opening out onto a covered terrace. In addition there is a 'Laroche' wine tasting room, a signature of Hotel du Vin establishments. The terrace area offers an outdoor smoking area in the “Cigar Shack”, complete with comfy sofas, heated flooring, and a “plasma fire”.
Other Hotel du Vin properties due to open soon include Newcastle (a 42-room hotel opening on October 13) and Edinburgh, due to open in December.
A special opening rate for the Poole property of £109 per room per night, including a continental breakfast, is available until the end of the year, subject to availability.
For reservations call +44 (0)845 3654438, email
[email protected],
or visit hotelduvin.com.
Report by Felicity Cousins
