Rush of bookings as new hotel’s launch date nears

A new boutique hotel on the site of a former manor house has already booked 1,500 stays - despite not opening for another seven weeks.

The Pig Hotel group has transformed the old Bridge Country Club as part of an £8 million development to create its seventh UK destination.

Despite the scale and detail of the work, the company’s chief executive, Robin Hutson, says he has not been daunted.

“I’ve spent 25 years working on listed buildings and working closely with English Heritage,” he said. “We know what we are doing and have the people with the skills for the job.”

The 29-bed hotel will be known as The Pig at Bridge Place and has already recruited 80 new staff, from chefs and waiters to housekeepers and beauty therapists, after 750 applications.

A team of up to 100 craftsmen and tradesmen are working flat out to complete the work in time for the hotel’s expected opening in the first week of May.

As well as the renovation of the main house, which will reflect its past “rock and roll vibe”, there is an extension offering further rooms and a conservatory ‘gar- den’ restaurant.

A lodge house will be converted into two, family-friendly units, while there are a further seven rustic-looking Kentish ‘hop-picker’ huts, and The Barn, which will offer a two-storey hideaway in the former stables.

Cottage gardens are a trademark of the group, and one is being planted at Bridge to provide produce for the restaurant.