Coombe Abbey Hotel has been appointed by Historic Coventry Trust to use some of the city’s buildings as visitor accommodation to support the city’s economy.
The partnership is set to launch six historic buildings as boutique holiday and visitor accommodation in October 2021.
The Historic Coventry Trust’s £1.5m partnership project with Coventry City Council to restore and convert the city’s two medieval gates and the three Lychgate Cottages in Priory Row is nearing completion.
The four properties in Priory Row (pictured) can cater for parties from two to six, while the Cook Street and Swanswell Gates can accommodate two people each.
The Trust has also brought in Coventry-based heritage attraction specialists, No Ordinary Hospitality Management, to promote and operate the properties, following on from its recent appointment by the Council to operate St Mary’s Guildhall.
The project has been funded by Architectural Heritage Fund, the Council’s Cultural Capital Investment Fund and the Government’s Getting Building Fund through the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP).
Graham Tait, assistant director of the Historic Coventry Trust, who has managed the delivery of the project, said: “This is the culmination of 12 months of painstaking restoration work which followed years of planning and fundraising to bring the project to fruition.
“This has only been possible through our close partnership with the Council who have transferred the buildings to the Trust on a 250-year lease. The project forms part of the ground-breaking Framework Agreement entered into between the Trust and Council in 2019 covering many of the city’s most important heritage assets.”
Richard Harrison, managing director, No Ordinary Hospitality Management, the company behind Coombe Abbey Hotel, added: “These properties have been saved and then meticulously restored by the Trust which, along with Coventry City Council, deserves massive credit for the project. They hugely add to the visitor offer of the city.”
