A three-month closure of the bar saw it stripped right back and everything renewed - from the wooden tiles on the floor to hundreds of LED lights.
"It is very different, a lot has changed,” said an extremely pleased hotel general manager Andrew Ward.
“It was just a case of trying something new really, with the revamp of the bar.
“The city is prospering with the new university and hopefully everything else that is going on in the city and we thought why don't we reinvest as well?”
Continuing to serve guests and the general public from the function room bar, the area was closed for 13 weeks while work was carried out.
"We went back to bare brick and bare floor - everything has been changed,” explained Andrew. “We now have all new wooden tiled floors, all new carpets, furniture – even 200 energy efficient state of the art LED lights.
"We have a new bar which has been extended from 8 pumps so that we now have 27.
“And our capacity is up. Where we only used to be able to seat 72 we can now seat 121. Reaction from guests has been great and footfall is speaking for itself – we have more seats and it is busier.”
But it is not just the look, with improved and more complete menus for diners plus new wine and cocktail lists.
“And it remains a nice little retreat from the city centre,” Andrew added, who was full of praise for owners Peel Hotels for investing “ just shy of a million pounds in the bar area to get it where it is”.
