ONE of Northumberland’s oldest hotels is celebrating a successful first quarter – having looked after more than 6,000 guests across a busy summer season.

The George Hotel, Chollerford, near Hexham, reopened in May after owners The Specialist Leisure Group entered administration.

But the popular hotel has benefited from a bumper summer season which has seen it bounce back to its former glory.

By the end of August, the hotel had served 6,190 breakfasts to 6,880 guests.

“Looking back on what we’ve achieved in the last few months is always a rewarding feeling, but when you put some numbers on it, it just makes it all the more eye-opening”, said general manager, Carl Sunley. “In hospitality, you’re often very much focused on looking after the in-house guests, so you can easily forget just how many people you’ve looked after over a period of weeks and months.

“To think that we’ve had more than 6,000 guests in already since reopening really underlines how much the hotel and destination has to offer and how hard the hotel team has worked, while also offering great positivity for the future.”

He added: “It’s not just for the hotel either. Another layer of reward comes from knowing that we’ve supported that many people visiting Northumberland. Given we’re an area usually popular with tourists, the positive impact for other businesses in the area is huge.

“We look forward to both working with, and serving the local community with our hospitality offering – it’s great to think that everyone else around us is also hopefully bouncing back alongside us.

“Just to say as well, given the superb demand we’ve been seeing, we are always looking for more people to join our amazing team. So, if anyone from the Northumberland area is looking for work – do please get in touch.”

The George Hotel is part of the newly formed Coast & Country Hotel Collection, which has over 37 properties across England, Scotland and Wales. The hotel was formerly part of the Shearings brand.

Paul FitzGerald, portfolio managing director of the Coast & Country Collection, said: “Following an enormously challenging re-opening period, we’re delighted to have had such a busy summer season.

“ It is always interesting and fun to review some of the quirky statistics that are generated by our business – such as having cooked and served more than 350,000 sausages to our guests at breakfast, which is quite extraordinary!”