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This currently small group of hotels began its life in 1994 when Robin Hutson
and Gerard Basset left successful careers behind them at the Chewton Glen
hotel, and joined forces to develop the Hotel du Vin & Bistro in Winchester.
There is a very good reason for the name of the hotel - Gerard Basset
is generally recognised as the country's leading sommelier, and wine -
and food - play a big part in the essential ingredients of the group.
Birmingham sees a wine list of some 400 bins, an impressive wine cellar
and adjacent to the Cellar Bar is the introduction of the first wine and
cigar shop, the Cave du Vin, also accessed direct from the street.
First and foremost
So is the Hotel du Vin & Bistro an hotel or a restaurant first. The
Winchester establishment is possibly best known as a bistro where you
still need to book far ahead to avoid disappointment, but subsequent openings
have seen a steady growth in the number of rooms, from 23 in Winchester
to 66 in Birmingham.
State of the
art
The significant progression in the opening of this particular Hotel du
Vin, apart from the increase in room numbers, is the introduction of that
which no self respecting hotel should be without these days - the health
club. Aptly named Health du Vin it offers six treatment rooms, a huge
sauna steam room and drench shower and a vast gym with over 30 pieces
of state of the art resistance and cardio-vascular machines.
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The group have employed
the services of architect Michael Phillips throughout but have not taken
on a professional interior designer. Instead, partner Robin Hutson and
his wife Judy make up the team which produces the atmospheric interiors.
The design team set out to create interiors which weren't so harshly contemporary
that they alienated older clientele or not contemporary enough for the
younger set. The Bistro and the Bar designs seem to be set across the
chain with a heavily bric-a-brac'd informal bistro style and Trompe l’oeil
panelling in both these rooms. There is a definite passion for this decorative
trickery as seen throughout the chain, sometimes functional, sometimes
amusing, sometimes flamboyant..
Development
Team:
Owners &
Operators:
Hotel du Vin
Group
Architects:
Michael Phillips Associates
Interior design:
Robin & Judy Hutson
Photography:
Robert Hall
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