Premier Hospitality

Burlington Hotel

Burlington
Written by Roma Publications

Burlington Hotel – An astounding transformation

The stunningly refurbished Bay Tree Bar and Grill restaurant is taking dining in style to a whole new level at the Burlington Hotel in Earls Avenue, Folkestone.

Overlooking the Leas Promenade and English Channel, The Burlington Hotel is a grand Victorian building located a 10 minute walk from the centre of Folkestone and set in leafy gardens.

The restaurant was comprehensively transformed, with initial works including complete stripping out of the old interior, reconfiguration and substantial structural works, including the installation of new steel beams.

Designers and suppliers for this impressive project were Astounding Interiors. Managing director of Astounding Interiors Steve Ward said: “In line with our signature theme of creating ostentatious interiors, our design intent for this restaurant’s concept is one of light -filled openness, while maintaining a warm and cosy theme.

“We wanted to design an interior which would make a statement both in the daytime and in the evening.

“This was in line with the client’s brief to generate a feeling of luxury and elegant, modern style. We knew immediately that the design had to be tasteful and eye-catching, without being too bold, so we therefore created a design concept inspired by deep, rich and neutral colours.

“We included warm tones of brown, deep purple, golds, cream and black, whilst using a mostly neutral colour palette for the natural textured papered walls and Kardean wood effect vinyl flooring. We also implemented a series of statement feature walls with Beech log inserts to emphasise the design intent. This was offset by striking new furniture, lighting, including recessed downlighters, and wooden branch details to make a statement design.”

Astounding Interiors also created a bespoke gold-fronted island bar with gold foot rail as a design highlight to add an extra touch of warmth and luxury to the interior. This was conceived as a striking feature, which would not date and would blend with the rest of the design, with the gold theme being picked up on the detailing of the bespoke banquette seating booths and chairs. There is a pleasing contrast between the dining area, which is designed as large, open and social, whilst the seating booths are conceived as cosy, warm and intimate.

Various types of materials were used, including, velvets, marble and aged woods, with ambiance lighting also being a key part of the design in order to create a soft and lush atmosphere.

‘The Bay Tree’, theme and logo also inspired the design features, including striking curved wooden tree style space dividers, with The Bay Tree logo also being featured in some of the windows.

The choice of layout has also been influenced by this organic ambience, with the design including flowing natural curved forms, and feature lighting reflecting the blossom budding on a Bay Tree.

Steve Ward concluded: “The hotel is a listed building and this project was an exciting challenge as it gave us the opportunity to restore and protect its beautiful, original features, while bringing the space into the 21st century.

“The client was very pleased with the project and reported takings in their first weekend of opening being well above expectations and with very favourable comments received from guests on the restaurant opening night.”

The Bay Tree Restaurant and Grill offers a dinner menu boasting modern British fare using locally sourced seasonal ingredients where possible, and incorporating a grill section for those wanting something more ‘rustic’. The food offering is complimented by a comprehensive wine list.

The sample daily dinner menu includes starters such as Pickled wild mushrooms & crisp polenta; Smoked salmon & cheese roulade with mixed leaves; Eastwell Park Rabbit Terrine with toasted brioche and red onion relish and Cream of Vegetable Soup with garlic croutons

Mains include Roasted root Vegetable Wellington with wilted spinach and sorrel cream sauce; Kentish Ranger Chicken Leg & Ballotine with champ mash, purple sprouting broccoli and wild mushroom cream sauce; Dry-Aged Sussex Rib Eye Steak [275g/10oz] with hand cut chips, grilled mushroom, tomato and peppercorn sauce, and Grilled Fillet of Loch Duart Salmon with buttered new potatoes, green beans, capers and dill velouté.

Burlington

Instyle Seating

Instyle Seating specialise in the manufacture and supply of bespoke upholstered furniture, to the commercial sector, ranging from fixed banquette seating through to sofas, chairs headboards and more. The family-run business was set up by Mohamed more than 40 years ago, initially operating from a single garage, a few tools and a £50 van! It now exists as a multimillion pound company operating out of a 22000 sq ft factory and employing approximately 50 members of staff.

Working across the UK and Europe, Instyle Seating works on commercial projects, refurbishing restaurants, bars, hotels and schools. Most recently, the company has been involved with The Burlington – The Bay Tree, manufacturing and supplying all the fixed banquette seating for the venue, along with all the show wood.

Commenting on the project, Mohamed’s son, Kaz Pirmohamed, said:

“This was a huge challenge as the project included a lot of show wood. We had to send carpenters to template the walls, so that we could ensure accuracy during the production process, and the end result speaks for itself.”

Kazim added:

“At Instyle Seating we pride ourselves in the quality of our work, as well as our customer service. Our install team is available 24/7 and we are always on hand to help no matter what time of the day it is.”

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Roma Publications