HOSPITALITY & SPA
The Farncombe Conference Centre has been given a gold award by the Green Business Tourism Scheme; (Left) Courses at FCC
We weren’t hung up on fi nding staff with years of experience, we just wanted people with the right attitude. Our staff ’s openness to doing things diff erently sets us apart
we’ve got plans to create some tree- houses to be used as self catering accommodation. We’re trying to bring the estate to life.”
Sustainability and ecological respon- sibility are important right across the estate. Farncombe Conference Centre – which offers conference facil- ities and runs courses for the public on subjects ranging from bee-keep- ing to photography – has been given a gold award in the Green Tourism Business Scheme (the world’s largest green accreditation scheme). It uses Ecover cleaning products and toilet- ries throughout its 11 meeting rooms and 89 bedrooms and the water pro- vided for delegates is all bottled on site and the glass bottles are reused. In the recently completed £3.5m, 32 bed accommodation wing, water is
heated by solar power, the bedrooms are heated using a ground source heat pump which exchanges heat from an adjacent fi eld and a 28,000 gallon on- site reservoir provides grey water for the showers and toilets.
A woodland management scheme is in place across the estate to protect the environment and its wildlife – it has a nature trail and a lake, and is home to wildlife including foxes, badgers and 64 native deer. More than 19,000 new trees have also been planted on the estate over the past three years, as part of an ongoing programme.
DORMY HOUSE The transformation of Dormy House from a four to a fi ve star hotel has involved a £5m renovation of the 17th century Cotswold farmhouse by interior designer Todhunter Earle, new landscaping and the addition of a brand new £5.5m spa.
The Farncombe Conference Centre uses Ecover products in its bathrooms and for all of its cleaning
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The hotel features 40 guestrooms and suites, which are all individu- ally styled and mix original features such as fl agstone fl ooring and oak panelled beams with a more contem- porary design. There is also a subtle Scandinavian infl uence, referencing the Philip-Sørensen family’s Danish
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heritage. It now features two restau- rants – The Garden Room and the Potting Shed – a rustic bar/restaurant serving hearty British food – both run by upcoming chef Jon Ingram. The hotel has been given a silver
award by the Green Tourism Business Scheme, and Grahame has his sights set on achieving a gold award in the future. “We’ve got the attitude and the investment, it’s just a question of iden- tifying exactly what we need to do once we’ve completed all our other projects across the estate,” he says. LED lights have been used through- out the hotel, all of the bedroom wings are carbon neutral and rainwa- ter harvesting is used and new trees planted to offset carbon emissions. New building management system controls are in place to minimise energy use, and the existing boilers have been replaced with new high-effi - ciency, fully modulating boilers.
HOUSE SPA
The House Spa is a calming space featuring six treatment rooms, includ- ing a double treatment suite and rasul mud room. At the heart of the spa is the Greenhouse spa lounge, which looks out onto a terrace and the
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