Owners of a 200-year-old Lake District hotel have revealed that it will close in 2027.
Angela and Adrian Hyde and Stephen Bore said it was the right time for them to leave the Overwater Hall Hotel in Ireby after 34 years.
Earlier this month, they applied for permission to change the building’s use from a hotel to a home or holiday let and plan to put it on the market.
The trio said regardless of the outcome – the application is still being considered by the Lake District National Park Authority – Overwater Hall Hotel would be closing its doors for the final time in January next year.
Angela, Adrian and Stephen took over in November 1992.
Stephen said they had had a fantastic time at the hotel and he paid tribute to staff – past and present – who had helped make the venue a success.
He said they would also miss the guests who had made their time there special, but they had reached the time where it was time to think about leaving hospitality.
The trio met at catering college and went on to work at other venues before deciding to go into business together.
He said the first day they visited the hotel as prospective buyers was among the most memorable moments of their time at the hotel.
Stephen said: “Approaching the hotel on the driveway, it is hidden until it comes into view at the last moment, it looked so beautiful and impressive.
“Adrian, who was driving, stopped the car for a moment. We looked at each other, and we all knew there and then that we had found our dream hotel. Love at first sight.”
Stephen added that he had many anecdotes about their time at the hotel and he was planning to write a memoir. He added: “It might just be for me, rather than publication.”
Built in the early 19th century as a Lakeland retreat for Joseph Gillbanks, the former deputy governor of Jamaica, it became a hotel in the 1970s.
Angela and Stephen look after the management of the business and front of house duties and Adrian leads the kitchen team as head chef.
They said: “We have been enormously proud to have owned and operated this magnificent place for what will be a little over 34 years in January – but it is that length of time that really underlies our decision.
“It is time for us to go – and we must underwrite this desire with a definite timescale to shut down the hotel.
“We have made many firm friends over the past three-and-a-half decades – and lost not a few – and you will all be remembered with affection.”
Overwater Hall Hotel was put on the market as a going concern for £1.45m in February last year but did not sell.
