With units in Liverpool, London, Manchester, Harrogate and Leeds, Room Restaurants have now opened their sixth restaurant The Lincoln Grille within the White Hart Hotel - located alongside Lincoln Cathedral and the imposing walls of Lincoln Castle.
Owned by Ambar Paul, son of Lord Paul of Marylebone, the 50-bedroom White Hart Hotel is operated by his company, Contemporary Hotels. The new refurbishment of the Hotel has cost over £1m - with Room Restaurants' contribution over £350,000.
The ground floor of this hotel, which dates back to the 14th century, comprises three units. This month the second phase, 60-capacity club lounge called Room Bar opened inside the reception and main hotel entrance area of a building.
Architect and designer Gabriel Murray of Murray 03 had the daunting job of bridging the character of the hotel with the modern approach taken by Room Restaurants, while technology integrators, The Sound Division Group also treated the Grade II-listed building with great sensitivity - first distributing multiples of white JBL Control 25 and Control 23 loudspeakers in the restaurant, adjoining bar and conservatory to provide an aesthetic solution, before turning their attention to the Club Lounge.
Operating off different play lists (depending on trading cycle), music is fed from a HD player to the new Club Lounge - powered by a Cloud multi-channel A6 amplifier and played out through strategically-placed WORK loudspeakers. Processed in a dbx 2115 graphic EQ to keep the music at optimum quality, a Cloud Z8 zoning unit ensures that the appropriate signal source is relayed to the correct area, with strategically positioned Cloud RSL6 panels offering remote source and volume selection.
David Graham, managing director of Sound Division, says: "We have enjoyed a long relationship with Room Restaurants. Their restaurant concepts are innovative and the atmosphere required varies from a bustling hotel lobby environment, to a stand alone city centre high volume fast brasserie where they are providing catering facilities from dawn to dusk, and offering the complete dining experience."
(Jim Evans)
