AMBITIOUS plans for a £2million housing development to ‘save’ Haslemere’s The Georgian Hotel now include expert management by an award-winning hospitality company.

The Georgian’s owners announced this week if their plans for an ‘enabling development’ get the go-ahead from Waverley Borough Council, the hotel will be managed by Cirrus, which oversees a successful network of 25 independently run boutique inns.

The Cirrus collection includes The Jack Russell on the Faccombe Estate, The Museum Inn in Dorset, The Mayflower at Lymington, and locally, The White Horse Inn in Chilgrove, which recently won the National Pub of the Year award.

Managing The Georgian will be extra special for Cirrus chief executive Alexander ‘Langy’ Pearse, who also co-founded the Epicurean Club, because he lives in Haslemere.

Full consent is sought for the renovation of the town’s historic grade II listed building, funded by changing the use of 33 hotel bedrooms in a linked modern extension, to a block of 16 flats – plus the erection of three mews cottages on the overflow car park in the High Street.

Georgian owner Lannister House, which is spearheaded by a Haslemere-based entrepreneur and backed by five local families, acquired the hotel from administrators in 2017.

The consortium re-opened the hotel and put in place a new business plan to secure its future, after the business was placed in administration twice in three years.

Proposals would see the historic original building become a 12-bedroom upmarket ‘boutique’ hotel and restaurant.

Welcoming Cirrus on board, Lannister House chief executive Richard Angel said: “It has always been part of our plan to find a hotel operator with a track record of running and managing high quality, boutique hotels.

“With Cirrus, we have landed the best in the business. The operation and management of the hotel will be transferred to Cirrus, as will all our staff, who will be retained.

“As a local resident, I am passionate about preserving this historic building as a thriving hotel in the heart of the community, and making this a Haslemere success story.

“To secure its future for the long term, the hotel needs significant investment. This plan will generate the £2million required to refurbish the listed building, attracting visitors and providing a high-quality local facility.”