Beckford Group in talks to add Howard’s House hotel to its portfolio

The Beckford Group is to take over boutique hotel Howard’s House in the Nadder Valley, with plans to refurbish and expand the site for a summer reopening.

The hospitality group is soon to agree a lease on the ten-bedroom, independent, family-run property in Teffont Evias near Salisbury, which had announced its closure last week.

The hotel will reopen next summer after a refurbishment and the Beckford Group plans to expand the site to 15 bedrooms.

Howard’s House marks the group’s first hotel. It currently runs four pubs with rooms which are dotted throughout Wiltshire and Somerset – the Beckford Arms, the Bath Arms, the Lord Poulett Arms and the Talbot – as well as the Beckford Bottleshop and the soon-to-open Beckford Canteen, both in Bath.

Speaking to The Caterer, co-owner Dan Brod, said: “We’ve had an eye on this hotel for a long time, in a locality we know really well. We see enormous potential and we can’t wait to get started creating the perfect English country hotel that is a natural progression for us from our country pubs.”

He added: “We’ll be carefully and sensitively reconfiguring the hotel layout, as well a creating a strong F&B offering.”

Last month, the group announced plans to open the Beckford Canteen in Bath city centre, headed by ex-Kitty Fisher's chef George Barson. The restaurant will occupy a former Georgian greenhouse on Bartlett Street, and will have around 40 covers inside and a further 40 in a garden to the rear. Opening next month, the Beckford Canteen will serve modern British lunch and dinner as well as drinks and snacks.

Beckford Group also recently unveiled the Great Arch at Fonthill, a self-contained holiday let for up to four people, which is located a few minutes’ drive from the Beckford Arms in Wiltshire. The interiors of the 18th-century gatehouse were designed by Beckford Group co-founder Charlie Luxton and friend Patrick O’Donnell, the International Brand Ambassador at Farrow & Ball, which used the launch to showcase new colours from the paint company.

*A full interview with the Beckford Group will appear in The Caterer next month. *

Photo credit: Irene Piera Pallas