Scarborough's Esplanade Hotel reopens after £1.5 million refurbishment

Major repair work included re-roofing of the five-storey hotel with 15,000 traditional slates; the full refurbishment of 12 of the Esplanade’s 73 bedrooms and bathrooms; the installation of a new women’s toilet; external painting of all walls and window frames, including more than 200 sash windows; and redoing the external walkways.

The work to repair the interior, exterior and roof was carried out by Infiniti Group for Daish Hotel Group, which run the hotel. A complete wrap-around scaffold was erected during October and November.

Work on the Victorian hotel, which recently reopened, started in 2020 and had as many as 15 to 40 tradespeople on-site at any one time.

Alex Willgrass, Infiniti Group Director, said: “It is an incredibly satisfying feeling to now see the hotel fully finished and open as a result of all the work and effort that the Infiniti team have put in.”

Infiniti Group’s contracts manager, Sharon Lester, who oversaw the project, said: “With the freezing cold and wet weather that we’ve had this winter and spring the job has certainly had its challenges, especially on the edge of the North Sea.”

Disruption to construction due to Covid-19 lockdowns was avoided by buying the majority of materials in advance, however Brexit did cause delays relating to specialist supplies being brought from mainland Europe, including a new 4,000-litre water tank.

Hotel neighbour Lord Rodney Walker said: “Over the past 12 months we have observed the work carried out by Infiniti on the Esplanade Hotel from our nearby apartment.

“This was a major project involving scaffolding the entire building, installing a completely new roof, exterior repair and repainting.

“The result is a new look.”

The Esplanade Hotel is the second high profile hotel refurbishment Infiniti Group have won in Scarborough and follows the conversion of The Mount Hotel into the Bike & Boot Hotel in 2020.

Infiniti Group has its headquarters in Scarborough and employs 10 staff.

During the Esplanade renovation work, and as reported in The Scarborough News, love letters between World War Two sweethearts were discovered under the floorboards.

Heartbreaking story of WW2 sweethearts whose love letters have been discovered under floorboards of Scarborough hotel

The correspondence was among a group of relics from the war, including ticket stubs and handwritten poems, and is now in the safekeeping of the Scarborough Archaeological and Historical Society.

Scarborough had been a hub for the RAF during the war, with the Esplanade requisitioned by the Army.