With a guest list as impressive as its Victorian Gothic architecture, The Headland Hotel has been hosting royals and celebrities for over a century.
The Headland Hotel is perhaps most famous for the role it played in the 1990 adaptation of Roald Dahl’s novel, The Witches. Speaking about that time a spokesperson from the hotel said: “We were all in awe of Anjelica Huston, although she was totally charming. Unobtrusive, stunningly beautiful and the perfect guest, she described her room as having “one of the best views in the world”. The star was the current girlfriend of Jack Nicholson at the time and he often telephoned to speak to her (long before the days of mobile phones) and the girls on the switchboard became extremely excited at putting calls through to Room 103.”
Now open year-round, the hotel attracts guests from all over the world, for short breaks, romantic retreats, family holidays, film and fashion shoots (David Bailey has used the hotel for a shoot for Italian Vogue), conferences and weddings.
Throughout the years, the staff have always been extremely important in the success of the Headland Hotel, and in 1992 it was the first company in Cornwall to receive the Investors in People award – just one of many, many awards and accolades accumulated over the years from the likes of The English Tourist Board, the British Hospitality Association, the AA, Green Tourism Business Scheme and others.
The hotel was bought in 1979 by John and Carolyn Armstrong who have a proud 100 year family history of owning and running hotels in Newquay. In over 30 years they have spent well over £15 million on an extensive facelift of the hotel – making the most of its oceanic viewpoint inside and out, and bringing it up to a high standard of comfort. One of the most radical developments has been the building of Cornwall’s first five-star holiday village in a world class location.
The latest development has been a multimillion pound two phased project which comprises of alteration, refurbishment and extension of the lower ground floor areas of the Grade II Listed hotel to form new spa facilities. The scope of work also extends to “back of house” and upgrading of existing services, all whilst the hotel remains fully operational. The remaining works will be undertaken over a five year period and comprise of tennis courts, underground parking, a new outdoor pool and conference facilities.
As part of the works the hotel also contacted SureSet UK to lay 40mm of Norwegian Bronze resin bound paving onto their raised patio area. This area surrounded their new skylights overlooking the indoor pool and would give the exterior of the Hotel a seamless and modern finish.
Speaking about the development, Yvonne Philp of SureSet said:” We were so pleased to be contracted to install our material at the iconic Headland Hotel. The installation team managed to use their skills and experience to complete the job to a perfect finish for all the guests and staff to enjoy. By installing the fully permeable surface onto a waterproof membrane at the hotel, they are now helping the environment by returning rain water back to the natural water table.
“We are extremely proud to have installed our high quality resin bound material at Headland Hotel, providing them with the 5* finish that the hotel deserves.”
The main contractor on the refurbishment project is JE Stacey & Co and the architects are Lilly Lewarne Partnership.
For more information please visit: www.headlandhotel.co.uk.
