Festive Fun at our Millbay launch
Above images – Liberty Pearl Photography
Yesterday we enjoyed a wonderful afternoon welcoming many of our regular guests and friends to the opening of our newly refurbished Millbay Suite and we took the opportunity to launch our Christmas (yes we said the C word, sorry!) brochure.
Above images – Liberty Pearl Photography
Wally and his team spent the first few months of 2017 lovingly restoring the Millbay Suite. The long function space can be divided into two – the Millbay Room and the Station room. It is finished to the highest standard, restoring every detail including the intricate ceiling. The original windows have been restored, one of which was hidden since the 70’s behind a bookcase! We love to document the renovation process, here are some images we took whilst the room was being transformed.
Celebrating our history is always key and of course the hotel was built in 1863 to service the station across the road, hence the name! We have an image of Millbay Station proudly framed in the room to make that link for our guests.
It was a real pleasure to showcase our Christmas Brochure with our loyal customers who return each year with their teams to party the night away. The stunning artwork has been designed by local, talented artist Charlotte Atkinson. We are huge fans of her work and following the success of last year’s brochure (also designed by Charlotte!), we knew we’d be in for a treat.
Above images – Liberty Pearl Photography
Charlotte has created several masterpieces and her talent blows us away. This year’s brochure depicts several scenes from the hotel including our magnificent ballroom, with its 1920’s style lighting and our stunning Restaurant, with its elegant chandelier. The front cover shows the grand entrance to the hotel, with the flags flying proudly above the revolving doors. Charlotte fills her creations with people, enabling those reading the brochure to imagine themselves partying the night away. We simply LOVE Charlotte’s work and we hope that you do too! To find out more about Charlotte, click here.
To get us in the mood our Head Chef, Kevin Scargill served up some festive treats. Guests enjoyed a trio of sensational savoury canapes, the first being Toasted Ciabatta topped with Devonshire Roast Turkey, Cranberry and a Sage & Onion Crumb. Next to follow was a deliciously crisp Cracker topped with Smoked Salmon, Cucumber and Cream Cheese. Guests were then served a Red Onion Marmalade Tart topped with Crumbled Feta. It is safe to say that taste buds were tingling by this point!
The dessert canapes were then served, starting with a Frangipane Sponge topped with Spiced Pear Puree! Guests were then treated to a delicious bite size Christmas Fruit Pudding – the perfect festive canape if you ask us and a delightful finale to an excellent selection!
Above images – Liberty Pearl Photography
We have loved hearing people’s feedback about the event and here are some of their lovely comments…
“It has been a real privilege to work alongside such a landmark hotel. When I was given the brief of designing The Duke’s Christmas brochure artwork, I wanted the illustrations to be classical and reflect the style of the hotel and the important role that it plays in Plymouth. When reading the brochure for the first time, I would like people to see the thought that has gone into creating this bespoke brochure, I believe it reflects the personality of the hotel and it is those thoughtful details that are remembered for years to come. The Christmas brochure was a real collaboration between myself and the team, I hope everyone loves it as much as we do!”
“We were delighted to attend the launch of the new Milbay Suite at the Duke of Cornwall Hotel.
It is important that the City has a wide range of conference facilities for the business community to enjoy, not just here in Plymouth but also for the travelling business visitor too. Devon Chamber are incredibly proud to work with The Duke of Cornwall Hotel with the comfort that we can signpost our members to top of the range conference facilities and receive a consistently great service.”
“The Millbay Suite is a spectacular room, it is great to see the original architecture of the building highlighted with wonderful details such as the dramatic ceiling. When holding a meeting at The Duke, you combine the fantastic central location with the comfort and resources of the hotel. It really is the perfect place for a meeting and we will certainly be looking to book the Millbay Suite in the near future!”.
Above images – Artography
We think you’ll agree that The Millbay Suite looks stunning. In fact we’d go so far as to say that it is Plymouth’s most luxury meeting room! But don’t take our word for it, if you’d like to book the space for an event please get in touch with Mel, our Event and Function Manager who would be delighted to help on events@thedukeofcornwall.co.uk or call 01752 275862.
Thank you to all of our guests who joined us today.
If you have enjoyed reading this blog we have some others that you might like…
Click here to read last year’s blog post celebrating Charlotte’s 2016 designs which we made into our very own Christmas card.
We have an annual refurbishment programme, where we decorate six bedrooms each year. We have also been refurbishing one of our function rooms each year, starting with the Restaurant in 2015, The Hayward Room in 2016 and most recently the Millbay. We recently celebrated joint owner, Walter Combstock and his love for maintaining this magnificent building. To view this blog post, please click here.
As well as restoring the hotel, we ensure the upkeep of the train and boat at West Hoe Fun Park, giving them a new coat of paint to ensure they are looking their best ahead of the season, we will be heading down to the park in the next month, check out the story on how we came to adopt these much loved Plymouth play items by clicking here.
We recently celebrated Walter winning a lifetime achievement award. You can see why above! Check out our blog celebrating his commitment to the hotel, there’s even a short video! Simply click here.
Thanks for reading.