YTL Hotels has announced the Monkey Island Estate is set for a spring opening next year.
Following renovation, the island's white-bricked pavilion and temple buildings will now make up the main hotel areas of the estate.
Set across seven acres in Bray-on-Thames in Berkshire, the restored island estate will consist of 27 bedrooms and three deluxe suites, all designed by New York-based Champalimaud Design, which designed YTL's first British property, the Gainsborough Bath Spa, this year's AA Hotel of the Year (England).
The furnishings of Monkey Island will "juxtapose timeless glamour and traditional features with a modern, relaxed countryside style", and the estate will also have its own Monkey Island Brasserie serving up modern British cuisine.
Monkey Island has been the haunt of monarchs, aristocrats, writers and artists in its intriguing 800-year history. Its name stems from the monks that lived on the island until the 16th century, and became known for the ‘grotesque' monkey paintings added to the pavilion while under the ownership of the 3rd Duke of Marlborough in the 18th century. The estate had been operated as a hotel since 1840.
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