Luxurious hotel aiming for the 'wow factor' (From The Northern Echo)

Luxurious hotel aiming for the 'wow factor'

12:46pm Wednesday 18th June 2008 in North-East Business News By Deborah Johnson

THE founder of collapsed furniture chain Durham Pine is investing £1.6m in developing a hotel in the North-East which he aims to make one of the UK's most luxurious venues.

John Marshall is creating The Fallen Angel, a themed boutique hotel in Durham, which is due to open in August.

He says the venue, which will create a number of jobs, will become the first of its type in the North-East, and is to be one of the most exclusive in the country.

Together with his partner, Sa MacDonald, Mr Marshall - who established Durham Pine in 1984 - is designing each of the nine suites in the hotel, on Durham's Old Elvet.

Unique themes for the rooms within the grade II-listed building include a cinema suite, where guests can watch a huge screen from the back seat of a Rolls- Royce; a sci-fi room, where the entrance will be a Tardis; and a sumptuous French boudoir suite.

The penthouse suite will have a bridal theme.

Mr Marshall said the hotel is his next big project. He left the furniture company in 2003, and said he is revelling in indulging his creative side.

"After 20 years of working with interiors and getting inspiration from all over the world, I saw some fairly outgoing pieces. We'd have stuff in stock like a sofa in the shape of a pair of lips and people would stare at it but never buy it," he said.

"I realised that for people's own homes they maybe want something a bit more sober and safe, but in hotels that can be different.

I want to bring a bit of Disney to the hotel, something a bit theatrical, to create a real unforgettable experience."

Mr Marshall and Ms MacDonald already have two properties in their Heavenly Holiday Homes portfolio, one in Edinburgh city centre and one on the Northumberland coast.

Ms MacDonald said: "We are looking at every aspect of this lavish hotel in great detail, right down to the handles fitted to furniture and to the type of wall-covering to best create the ambience we seek for each room. Everything will be tastefully done, but will also deliver a huge wow factor when guests open the door to their room."

"When we open, we will be targeting people who have struggled to find top-class accommodation within the heart of Durham, whether they arrive on business, through connections with the university or law courts, or as holidaymakers seeking something entirely different and indulgent.

"At the same time, we know that we will attract guests who specifically wish to experience the Fallen Angel and who head to Durham solely for this reason."

Mr Marshall's previous venture Durham Pine was a £60m business at its height with 80 owned and franchised stores throughout the UK.

In 2003, the company rebranded as DP Furniture Express, but collapsed in October 2005, blaming a deteriorating retail market for its demise.

The firm was then bought out by some of its senior managers - without Mr Marshall - and was relaunched as Furniture Express, which collapsed the following year.