LESS than two years ago, the Kings Head Hotel in Cirencester reopened with new owners, quickly establishing itself in the centre of the town before being recognised recently at the Chamber of Commerce Business Awards.

Sally Russell, Kings Head Hotel general manager, told the Standard: “The owners, Mark and Alison Booth, came along and did extensive refurbishment and opened all the vaulted cellars downstairs.

“Two years in, we’re still tweaking little bits and pieces of it.

“At the moment we’re building up more trade and reputation – that’s the key for us going forward. There’s a lot of competition for hotels in the Cotswolds.”

She said refurbishments had initially been delayed “for a long time because they found a lot of the Roman artefacts downstairs, so the archaeological society spent a lot of time digging around”.

With 45 completel unique bedrooms, many with authentic “Cotswold features”, as well as a spa and cocktail bar and 76 hand-picked staff members, the hotel has plenty to offer.

“We do target London areas a little bit more because we do find a lot of our clients come from that area,” said Sally.

“But equally during the week we need to market towards the corporate business. We’ve got a large conference space so we need to fill that out, so we do marketing for Swindon, Cheltenham, Gloucester and the local businesses, but also further afield.

“We also have the function space to fill out on the weekends, so it’s marketing towards weddings and the local market for birthday parties and music events. We host the Brewery Blues here every month.”

Sally, who has worked in the leisure industry since she was 16, added that “we have quite a lot of local staff”, and that the hotel works with schools and colleges in the area to encourage graduates to join what she considers the “best industry in the world”.

The hotel won Hospitality Provider of the Year at the Cirencester Chamber of Commerce Business Awards in May.

For more information, visit kingshead-hotel.co.uk.