A TYNEDALE hotel has reopened its doors following a huge refurbishment project.

The Bowes Hotel in Bardon Mill has been closed since May 6, and has had around £500,000 spent on bringing all its facilities up to date.

Owner Ian Millar, who also runs Greggs Sports in Hexham, took the business over in December of last year, and decided that it was in desperate need of a revamp.

Ian said: “We’ve done a complete refurbishment, it’s cost around half a million pounds. We’ve redone all the rooms, put in a new kitchen, and rebuilt the toilet block.

“I’m still working at Greggs at the minute, so I’m dashing in between the two of them.

“When we took over, the business had been really run down. I knew the owner and I live in the village, so I said I would step in.

“I told the owner it needed money spent on it so I said I would buy it and pay for the work – it’s been more than I expected!

“We just had to bite the bullet in the end and get everything done.”

The hotel had its long-awaited reopening on Friday, August 17 and has already seen some of the regulars returning.

Ian is looking for a new head chef so the hotel’s new kitchen can be put to good use.

Ian continued: “Business has been brilliant since we reopened, we’ve been packed.

“It’s still the season for it, and The Bowes has a good catchment area, it just needed some money spent on it.”

The hotel is also all set to host the annual Bardon Mill Bowes Hotel Leek Show this weekend.

The show runs over the entire weekend, with viewing starting at 6pm on Saturday, followed by a prize money draw and leek auction on Sunday and a broth night at the hotel on Wednesday.