AN ICON of Suffolk coastal chic has reopened for the main tourist season following a three-month closure for refurbishment.

Work at the Brudenell Hotel, a stone’s throw from the beach at Aldeburgh, has included a refit for its 44 bedrooms and bathrooms and a major remodelling of its restaurant and bar areas.

The new look extends to the hotel’s sitting rooms and outside terrace as well, and the project has also involved the creation of a new rear entrance and staircase, improved disabled access and a new private dining/meeting suite – all completed in just 12 weeks.

Head chef Justin Kett has created a new menu to accompany the relaunch, with a new feature of the dining areas being a collaboration with Pinney’s smokehouse and fishery at nearby Orford.

The refurbishment itself had a strong local flavour, with Thorpeness & Aldeburgh Hotels, which owns the Brudenell, commissioning Melissa Billen of Orford-based MDB Interiors as style guide for the project while the main contractor for the building work was Ipswich-based Barnes Construction.

Grahame Tinnion, operations director for Thorpeness & Aldeburgh Hotels, said: “Lucky enough to have one of the very best seaside locations in the UK, we believe that we now offer levels of comfort, food and service to match, making the perfect base from which to explore and enjoy all the great things that Suffolk and our part of the coast has to offer.

“This truly has been a Suffolk affair, combining some of the finest building and design talent in the county with Melissa’s interiors flair and vision brought into fruition by Barnes’s teams working tirelessly to such a tight timeframe.

“The positive reactions we have had from our first guests since re-opening in time for Easter weekend have been a great reward, both for the project team’s efforts and for the hard work from our enthusiastic hotel team in getting it up and running again ready for the busy summer season, which has started so well for us,” he added.

David Faichney, contracts manager at Barnes Construction, said: “We are delighted to have used locally known subcontractors and tradespeople as well as our own team to achieve the programme’s 12 week timeframe. The finished project really has the ‘wow’ factor.”

Melissa Billen of MBD Interiors added: “I am really pleased with the result which, I believe, will help the Brudenell to keep its position as one of the leading hotels in the region”