AN HISTORIC hotel on the Norfolk-Suffolk border has reopened following an extensive refurbishment, with plans to add a leisure complex, including steam room, sauna and gym.

Award-winning hotelier Brian Keane, 39, and his wife Kelly, 35, have carried out makeovers to eight rooms at the 400-year-old Brome Grange hotel, off the A140, by installing new 32-inch LCD TVs with 100 channels and upgrading the furnishings in the bedrooms and bathrooms.

The hotel bars have also been improved to bring the accommodation to three-star standard.

Mr Keane is also providing marquees in the hotel grounds for events, including weddings and conferences.

The hotel closed in May 2011, leaving the wedding plans of dozens of couples in tatters after they were informed by letter that the hotel had ceased trading. The former owner could no longer afford to keep running the hotel. Everyone with bookings was reimbursed.

Mr Keane, who used to run the Riverside hotel in Mildenhall, received an Acorn Award in 1998 and has previously won the Les Routiers Best Hotel in England prize.

He also received food awards for a hotel he used to run in Burnham Beeches in Buckinghamshire, prior to moving to Mildenhall.

He said Brome Grange, which is being run by general manager Jonathan Perfect, 35, will be offering Christmas party lunches and a Sunday carvery, while he was also planning to set up an academy to train young apprentices.