Last updated at 11:45, Tuesday, 04 May 2010

TWO hotels devastated by last year’s floods reopened on Saturday following multi-million pound refurbishments.

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Guests and staff at the Whitewater Hotel, Backbarrow, and the Swan Hotel at Newby Bridge, were forced to evacuate on November 19 after downpours swelled the River Leven and Windermere.

Over the past six months an estimated £7m has been spent restoring the hotels to their former glory.

James Beech, operations manager at the Whitewater, said the hotel’s restaurant, lounge, bar and bedrooms were now open for business.

He estimates the insurance claim would come to £2-4m.

Mr Beech said: “During the period of time we have been closed we would probably have taken around £500,000. Thankfully we had business interruption insurance and our other insurance cover has paid for the refurbishment.”

Out of the 39 members of staff employed at the Whitewater before the flood, 19 were made redundant. The hotel currently has 22 staff, and Mr Beech said he hopes to recruit more as business picks up.

He said: “We think there will be a natural interest. Everyone slows down to have a look at a car crash and it’s a similar sort of thing. People will remember us for being flooded and they will want to come and look at how we have recovered.”

Footage from various news reports at the time of the flood plays on a loop in the hotel’s lounge. A noticeboard showing photographs of the damage caused stands in the lobby as a reminder of the hard work that has gone into the Whitewater’s transformation.

Less than a mile away is the Swan Hotel. Before November 19, a date that will be forever imprinted in the memories of those who were affected by the flood, the Swan employed 80 members of staff.

The hotel now boasts 90 employees and was able to retain all staff during the refurbishment.

Sarah Gibbs, general manager, said: “We kept all the staff on.

“We had to reduce them down to 70 per cent pay, we told them we would be more than happy for them to get other jobs while we did up the hotel.

“I really felt we had such a good team of staff here that I wanted to look after them all and didn’t want to make anyone redundant.”

Some £4m has been spent at the Swan.

The restaurant at the inn is now open and the hotel facilities open on Friday.

Now it has reopened, Miss Gibbs is confident the business will be stronger than ever.

She said: “It’s like a brand new hotel.

“We’ve refurbished the entire hotel, including the upstairs bedrooms.

“We’re relaunching gradually, but we have 22 out of a total of 52 rooms booked on Friday night, 35 on Saturday and 22 on Sunday.”

First published at 13:14, Monday, 03 May 2010
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk