Port Sunlight Cottage Hospital reborn as Leverhulme Hotel

Aug 6 2008 by Matt Hurst, Birkenhead News

Port Sunlight Cottage Hospital is reborn as stylish Leverhulme Hotel

TWELVE months ago Port Sunlight’s Cottage Hospital was a dilapidated shell, but now it’s been transformed into a 15-bedroom art deco style boutique hotel.

Opening under the locally resonant name, Leverhulme Hotel, the building has been dragged into the 21st century by husband and wife team, Craig and Lisa Baker.

The pair have pedigree when it comes to creating unique boutique destinations, with Frankby’s Hillbark Hotel and Dalston Hall Hotel near Carlisle among their Contessa portfolio.

The original sash windows have been completely refurbished - not a pane of glass had survived - and the hospital’s stone mosaic floor was uncovered to take pride of place in the lobby area.

Craig Baker told the News: “When I first came through here with Port Sunlight Village Trust, I knew exactly where everything was going.

“The only thing that changed is to turn what would have been the butler’s pantry into a private dining room.”

Lisa added: “It’s better than we imagined it to be.”

The restaurant, Paesano, is now open to the public and has been designed with more than just eating in mind.

Perhaps Craig’s greatest stroke of luck was to come across 63 walnut doors, salvaged from a bank on London’s Threadneedle Street, and now used throughout the building.

They set the art deco style tone which is slavishly maintained in each uniquely furbished bedroom, ranging in price from £160 to £205 per night.

The hotel will begin welcoming guests on Friday.