After months of being unable to trade, Chester’s hospitality sector has seen a huge surge in bookings for outdoor areas and there doesn’t look to be a slow down for people wanting to use the beautiful spaces around the city. In fact, many venues are reporting outside areas being booked up until June and beyond.
Following the government’s roadmap out of lockdown venues with outdoor space opened on April 12 and the last few weeks has seen businesses bounce back to life including The Townhouse Secret Garden situated at the Chester Townhouse Hotel which has had record sales, even with no occupancy in the hotel. The garden area was converted from a car park. late last year and has been a lifeline for the hotel which had to close completely over lockdown. Now unrecognisable as a car park the venue has become one of the places to be seen in Chester with ‘Flamingo Corner’ and a beautiful butterfly wall providing the perfect selfie spots.
Steven Hesketh, CEO of The Savvy Hotel Group, said “Since the roadmap was announced, we’ve been absolutely inundated with bookings for the Secret Garden which has been amazing. We have been overwhelmed with the positive feedback from our guests and it has been a delight to have customers back. We are a family run business and the wider team have been amazing and really pulled together, I think we are all just glad to have a bit of normality back in our lives.”
The Townhouse Secret Garden is open seven days a week serving cocktails and sharing platters to those wishing to enjoy the heated area. Tables at The Townhouse Secret Garden can be booked with “live availability” online through the Chester Townhouse website (but high demand means weekends specifically may need to booked weeks ahead.
The countdown is now on to the 17th May when the hotel can welcome leisure guests and the full business is back up and running. Hotel bookings are looking positive but it does appear that guests are still airing on the side of caution, it is hoped that when the next road map announcement comes from the government that will reassure people that they can book breaks away with confidence.
