North Lakes Hotel & Spa

For years Thwaites has been one of the best kept secrets in hospitality, hiding its light under a bushel.

It has made a name for itself as an award-winning family brewer with a large collection of pubs, yet in recent years the company has also been quietly developing an award-winning family of high quality hotels, spas and inns.

From 4-star hotels complete with spas and conference centres to historic buildings that have been painstakingly restored, they all offer the warmest of welcomes to people wanting to eat, drink or stay somewhere that is full of character.

And now they are coming together under a new collective: The House of Daniel Thwaites.

“We are not a boring, bland, cookie-cutter group giving a very mediocre experience – there are enough of them about in the world,” said Chief Executive Rick Bailey. “Every one of our hotels and inns is fabulous in its own right - from cooking over an open fire in North Lakes or a hotel on the banks of Windermere with its own magnificent boathouse through to multi-million pound restorations of buildings left in disrepair to transform them into luxury accommodation, bars and restaurants.

“We are bold in our design, friendly in our service and every one of our hotels and inns is unique in its style – people are often amazed at the challenge we take on when we develop our properties but we enjoy creating characterful places for people to visit through careful attention to the fine detail. There isn’t another property in Beverley like the Beverley Arms and no other restaurant in the Lake District like FYR. We’ve even designed dog-friendly rooms.

“We want to stop being a well-kept secret and shout loud about our fabulous British business - a great place to work and also a great place for our customers to visit.

“When we looked at what links it all together, it’s not the look of a building or a room, nor is it a menu or a product, although those are all important.

“The House of Daniel Thwaites is not another dull collection, it’s not even a brand – it’s a mindset, created through the eyes of the people working in our kitchens, bars, spas and housekeeping of our properties. It’s what differentiates us and putting it all together under The House of Daniel Thwaites is the clearest way for us to help our customers understand us.

“It stands for quality, rich experiences and feeling comfortable and at home wherever you find us.” Even when developing The House of Daniel Thwaites the company didn’t choose an easy option - they enlisted the help of its staff to harness their thinking. Hundreds of team members across the country were involved in the process, developing the new proposition and bringing it to life.

Each property’s unique stories have been pulled together, together with their character and the guest experience that helps each stand out. As a result, despite working in completely different properties up and down the country, the culture and personality of The House of Daniel Thwaites shines through – a place where guests feel relaxed and get a little bit of themselves back. Rick Bailey added: “I can’t remember another time in the company’s 211-year history when we have made such a bold and positive statement about our belief in our future. “We’re all really excited about it – an organisation powered by our people, with ownership of their own properties, delivering superb hospitality in outstanding properties in great locations. We want to inspire like-minded people to know that whenever they are in one of our properties they can trust us to help them feel comfortable and at home.” To coincide with this launch, the company has launched new websites that reflect the quality, character and unique features of each property within The House of Daniel Thwaites.

It is also midway through a £75m investment programme focussed on accentuating the individuality of every property but also growing the number of properties that are part of the collective. Rick concluded: “This has been an exciting and emotional journey – but generation after generation of the Thwaites family has been at the forefront of evolving our business through the past 211 years. This is the next bold, new chapter in our history.

“We have great confidence in our abilities and look forward to welcoming like-minded travellers who are looking to feel comfortable and at home the length and breadth of Britain.”

Thwaites Hotels has been named top luxury spa group in Europe at an awards ceremony in Ireland over the weekend.

Two of its hotels also came home successful from the World Luxury Spa Awards on Saturday (July 14), with Thorpe Park Hotel & Spa in Leeds winning best Luxury Fitness Spa in the UK and Cottons Hotel & Spa in Knutsford scooping the title for top Luxury Hotel Spa in the UK.

The annual awards ceremony rewards and celebrates spas that set benchmarks in quality, innovation and service.

Thwaites Hotels Operations Director Chris Hill said: "We are thrilled with this news. The last 2 years has seen significant investment in our spas and there is more to come, as we are updating everything from the pool halls and gyms to the changing rooms and relaxation lounges.

"It's a really exciting time for us and to win these awards highlights how our plans are creating something quite special.

"I'm so proud and delighted for our spa teams who work so hard to ensure everyone who visits us has a fantastic time and enjoys some quality relaxation."

Over £1.5m has been pumped into Thwaites' six spas over the past two years.

This includes a complete refurbishment of pool halls at Kettering Park and Cottons, an upgrade of changing facilities at Solent Hotel, Fareham, and Aztec in Bristol, improvements to the treatment rooms along with the introduction of a manicure/pedicure station at Thorpe Park, and the launch of a new generation of gyms at North Lakes in Penrith.

This month the spas launch a new partnership with Caudalie which is already creating a buzz among its members, and there is another £1m of investment planned across the 6 sites over the next 2 years.

Chris Hill added: "This is the largest period of investment we have had in our spas - we have a stunning design plan for each spa and gym, we are improving every aspect of the guest experience and are looking at how we can add more to each person's visit, including incorporating new technology into facilities.

"Feedback so far has been fantastic - as we are now seeing from these awards we have won - and there is even more planned for the future. It's the ideal time for people to come along, see what we are doing and enjoy a bit of pampering."

For more information visit www.spa-and-fitness.co.uk.

Thwaites Hotels & Spas are celebrating after being named the top hotel group in the country.

The chain of six hotels was presented with the AA Hotel Group of the Year 2016-17 Award at a prestigious ceremony in London.The award is presented in recognition of the hotel group that has a proven track record of striving to ensure the very best levels of service, food and accommodation across the range of properties. It is the second time the Thwaites-owned hotels have won the award, which is a feat only achieved by a small handful of hotel operators.

Chief Executive Officer at Thwaites, Rick Bailey, said: “I am incredibly proud that our Hotels & Spas have won this award for a second time. It shows that sustained investment and consistently providing great hospitality over a long time is a simple formula for success. “The reason we remain a popular choice for leisure and business travellers alike is the fantastic warm welcome and hospitality our incredible teams deliver time and again, together with their fanatical attention to detail to create amazing experiences for our guests. Without them this award would not be possible and I would like to thank them all for this outstanding achievement”. To help decide the winner, judges looked at the attention to detail made by the hotel group along with the commitment and approach to future development.

Stephen Wilkinson, Area Manager, AA Hotel & Hospitality Services, said: “Thwaites Hotels consistently deliver an enjoyable guest experience across their hotels with staff providing a warm and friendly welcome". “This success is down to their belief in investing time and effort into training the team. Investment across the hotels continues which has seen the quality and provision meet the demands of the modern traveller.”

Thwaites have six hotel properties Thorpe Park Hotel & Spa in Leeds; Cottons Hotel & Spa, Knutsford; North Lakes Hotel & Spa, Penrith; Solent Hotel & Spa, near Southampton; Aztec Hotel & Spa, Bristol; and Kettering Park Hotel & Spa, Northamptonshire. They were recently brought under the Thwaites brand, with the company’s Inns of Character, after previously being known as Shire Hotels.

Explaining the change to the brand, Rick Bailey explained: “It was the ideal way for us to bring clarity and simplicity to our brand. Our customers won’t notice any difference when they visit our hotels, inns or lodges as we are not changing the guest experience. However we are creating a unified platform to sell our services, with a new website being launched next month”.