Hotel du Vin to launch pub brand

Hotel Du Vin is set to open its first Pub Du Vin next summer after acquiring the Sussex Arts Club for £2.2m 

The property, which neighbours the Brighton Hotel du Vin, will be converted over the next year to add 14 bedrooms to the hotel with the ground floor turning into a stand-alone traditional pub.

Speaking to Caterersearch, Robert Cook, chief executive officer at Malmaison and Hotel Du Vin, said: “It will have all the hallmarks of a Hotel Du Vin and all the emphasis will be on cask ales.”

Cook said the intention was to source ingredients for the menu from within a 30-mile radius of Brighton. The site will also look to retain the original features of the pub already in the Sussex Arts Club.

“It will be a snug bar and the first of the Pub Du Vins,” he said. “It allows the brand to expand its DNA and enables us to go into areas where we can get with a pub but could not get with a hotel.”

The Brighton site will be the first Pub Du Vin with more in the initial planning stages for expansion next year.

Cook also revealed that Hotel Du Vin has rekindled its interests in sites in Durham and Canterbury and expects to make an announcement on expansion plans “within the next two to three months”.

The next Hotel Du Vin will open in York in November.

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MWB raises £105m for expansion plans >>

Hotel du Vin website >>

By Christopher Walton

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