A 92-YEAR-OLD has cut the ribbon of a North East hotel after spending the last eighteen months watching it being built while in shielding.
The brand new and highly-anticipated, Seaburn Inn pub hotel, near Sunderland, was officially opened by "local hero" Lyn Overend on Monday.
Ms Overend, who sadly lost her husband, Stanley shortly before their 70th anniversary, had spent near enough every day watching the site take shape.
Saying it had given her "something to focus on" while shielding, she said the view from her kitchen window had "kept her going" throughout a lonely lockdown.
So after hotel bosses found out about her challenging past few months, they invited her down as their very own "VIP" to declare it open on Monday morning, with a free night's stay.
She told The Northern Echo: "It had given me something to look forward to – it was a shock when they asked me to open it, but I've really enjoyed it.
"I'd seen the hotel right from the start – I'd even wave to the workers."
Officially opening the hotel to much fanfare from guests, staff – and even onlookers, Ms Overend got the chance to have her very own 'first look' before declaring it open.
Set over four storeys, the 40-bed hotel in Seaburn, in between Sunderland and South Shields, the hotel has been built on the site of the former Pullman Lodge railway carriages.
Owned by The Inn Collection Group, the hotel is managed by Richard Miller, who up until now had run another of the group's, The Ambleside in the Lake District.
He said: "Lyn has been our local hero - she's a real firecracker and it's been lovely to meet her."
Employing almost 60 full and part-time staff from across the Wearside area, Mr Miller said the hotel is now one of the "larger" sites within the group.
Explaining that demand had reflected the interest in the weeks ahead of its grand opening on Monday, he said: "It's been brilliant.
"The reaction from people has been good, everything that people have been saying seems really positive."
Mr Miller anticipated that the hotel would become a particular hotspot for guests when the ever-popular Sunderland Airshow returns next year.
In line with the group's tone, The Seaburn Inn is marketed as a 'pub hotel,' meaning guests check-in at the end of the pub area.
Currently taking walk-ins only for those wanting food and drink, the venue has also opened a beer garden in anticipation of warmer weather.
Mr Miller said: "This is the core of the operation, it's also about having a really good pub restaurant, we are not just a hotel brand.
"Demand has been reasonable, we are now fully booked on Saturday - there has been lots of interest. People have been stopping to look while we have been training the staff."
As part of a £1.5 billion city-wide investment programme from Sunderland City Council, the new venue is part-funded by its regeneration project.
The opening of The Seaburn Inn comes as a brand new Holiday Inn is set to debut in the city centre next year with dozens of new jobs expected to be created.
Read more: Pictures show progress of hotel opening in Sunderland in 2022
Earlier this year Peter McIntrye, executive director of city development at Sunderland City Council, said the introduction of new hotels was confidence boosting.
Following an update, he said: “Hotel developments are a real vote of confidence in the city’s visitor economy as well as its ability to attract business travellers."
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