Principal Hotel, York

Principal city-centre hotels are located in spectacular landmark buildings in exceptional locations around the UK. Heritage is the cornerstone of their brand and we are delighted to have supplied around ten of their sites, including the elegant Georgian townhouse which is now the award-winning Principal Edinburgh, as well as several of the sister brand’s impressive De Vere country estate hotels.

Located in the heart of the city with a view of the Minster, The Principal York is a truly grand late Victorian building, refurbished and restored to glory by interior architects Goddard Littlefair. Tasked with reinstating the hotel’s essential character as a great destination, Goddard Littlefair created a scheme which nods at tradition whilst creating a light, welcoming and contemporary environment in the form of a modern country house interior. It has been rewarded with gold at the 2016 London Design Awards for Hospitality Interior Design and, amongst other accolades, was also a finalist in two classifications of the European Hotel Design Awards.

In this hotel, different design teams worked on the public areas and the suites, so we were particularly gratified that both choose to come to Havwoods.