The South Causey Inn near Beamish in Co Durham, is continuing its reputation for luxury eccentricity with the introduction of eight themed bedrooms replicating everything from Captain Cook’s cottage to an American Trilogy room.
The family-run hotel, which turns over around £3.5m annually, was taken over by husband and wife, Philip and Susan Moiser, in 2007 in which time they have invested significantly in the business, taking bedroom numbers from 16 to 36, while introducing a wedding venue, conferencing facilities and a mini farm.
In October 2015, they converted a London Bus into luxury accommodation and have now spent a further £800,000 on eight ultra-luxury themed bedrooms. Each have their own private courtyard, dining area and hot tub, as well en-suite bathrooms with Jacuzzis and waterproof televisions.
- Owner, Susan Moiser said: “We created our Trafalgar Square room in October last year after being inspired by something we saw in a magazine about how London buses had been used for things like hotel receptions or mobile cocktail bars. It was basically scrap. We refurbished it and converted the downstairs into a luxury bathroom with free standing bath tub and wall mounted TV, with the upstairs being made into a bedroom.
“We had also previously extended some of the bedrooms to include hot tubs and decided to give each new luxury room their own hot tub because we had had such demand excellent occupancy. If someone is just staying for a quick business trip, they might just want a cheaper room, but if it’s a couple celebrating an anniversary, for example, they might want something a bit more special.”
Following on from the success and popularity of the bus, the Moisers made the decision to convert the former equestrian stables into luxury themed rooms.
The interior design was handled in-house by Philip Moiser, ensuring each themed room was decked out uniquely, filled with a vast range of unusual artefacts sourced by him.
- The US-inspired American Trilogy, incorporating lorry and car bumpers, rare Hollywood black-and-white photographs, a propeller, a canoe and an American-themed table hand-painted by local artist Ben Nightingale while the nautical-themed Captain Cook’s room is equipped with anchor, lobster pots, sail, and items from the Dunkirk landing. The Treehouse has its very own tree and TV built into the rustic four poster bed.
“People have stayed in the new rooms since July and the response has been fantastic, comparing the likeness to the Crab and Lobster. Social media is an incredible thing. It was new to me, but the reach it has is amazing; we ran a share-and-win prize competition, which got thousands of hits.”
South Causey Inn will be running an open showcase event for the public on September 14 from 4pm-9pm. For further information, please visit the website www.southcausey.co.uk