A hotel in a north Lakes village has reopened after being closed for two-and-a-half years for a makeover costing more than £1.5m.
The Ruddings Hotel – formerly known as The Middle Ruddings – in Braithwaite has undergone a major transformation and extension after being gutted from top to bottom.
It was taken on by the group Mawdsley Bleachers Ltd on September 2, 2020 and was run for a couple of months before the second lockdown hit in the November of that year.
The company already runs the Ravenstone Manor Hotel at Bassenthwaite, the Mary Mount Hotel, near Keswick, the Coledale Inn, Braithwaite and the White Horse at Scales, near Threlkeld.
“We already had plans to extend and renovate it so we decided to embark on the work,” said Charlie Mawdsley, who runs the company with his brothers Geoff and Mike.
“With the pandemic and the way the supply of goods and materials was, it’s been a bit of a struggle to start with and then we got into our flow.”
The hotel now has 21 bedrooms – an increase of seven – and has an open plan set up internally with an extended terrace at the front. Some of the ground floor rooms at the back have also been extended along with some large family rooms.
There are new fixtures and fittings throughout and Mr Mawdsley joked that all that is left from the old building is the original fireplace and front door.
“It does look amazing,” said Mr Mawdsley. “It’s a different kind of establishment to what it was. It’s gone up a few levels, probably from a two star to a four star. I am no hotel inspector but I would be pretty chuffed if coming to stay here.”
The bar will be serving real ales and two top chefs have been employed who Mr Mawdsley said would be serving food of a Rosette-type standard.
The hotel will be employing 15 to 20 members of staff, a mixture of former employees and new ones to ensure some continuity.
“We might have a bit of a soft opening at first,” said Mr Mawdsley. “We might open five days a week to begin with just to get ourselves established and open up fully just a couple of weeks later.”
