A popular hotel located on a Liverpool street "most cities would die for" is celebrating 20 years in business.
Welcoming its first guests back in 2004, Hope Street Hotel marked the beginning of a new era for hotels in Liverpool as the city centre’s first independent, privately-owned, boutique hotel. Located on Hope Street in the Georgian Quarter, the concept of the business came from owner Dave Brewitt, who has lived in Merseyside since 1981.
He bought the semi-derelict Victorian warehouse in 2000, that for many years had been a furniture store. And with his team, Dave rebuilt and refurbished the building, creating the original 48-bedroom Hope Street Hotel and 60-cover The London Carriage Works restaurant.
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During the renovation, the original name of the 1860s warehouse – The London Carriage Works – was revealed above the front door and became the restaurant's name in homage to the building's history. Tripling in size over the years, with two award-winning extensions, this month marks 20 years since the popular hotel opened its doors in the city.
Owner Dave Brewitt told the ECHO: "Hotels was something I'd never thought about when I was a teacher working in 'the UK's worst school' according to the Daily Mail, a school in Hackney. Then I taught in Birkenhead and drifted a little bit into building and then I became a hotel owner and developer.
"This site was built in 1869 and all sorts of different things have happened, the Carriage Works, Armstrong Siddeley had it just after the war, it was taken over by the government during the war to supply gas masks and things like that. There’s this amazing history of the building and it came on the market in the late 90s.
"I was advised that nobody would want a hotel on Hope Street. We've got two cathedrals, two universities fairly close, the Everyman, the Philharmonic – it's a street that most cities would die for.
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"The history of the street is fascinating. It felt like the sort of place you'd want someone to say if they were coming to Liverpool.
"Certainly 20 years ago there was a shortage of decent places to stay in the city. It's residential on one side, down towards the city centre in the other – we’ve got some spectacular views over the city."
When Dave and the team started renovations, the site was nothing more than an empty shell with a lot of unwanted furniture left behind. Dave has kept a vast collection of photographs taken at the time that captures the transformation of the buildings, as well as the changing face of Hope Street.
After years of work, the Hope Street Hotel opened in February 2004 and quickly established a reputation for excellence. The business also earned a spot on Conde Nast Traveller's list of the top 50 new hotels worldwide before it even opened its doors and has continued to win major awards and accolades for its design, offer and service.
Dave said some standout events and visitors include the G7, former United States Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, as well as a long list of international and local footballers, global artists and famous actors. He said: "John Barnes was one of our first guests and he stayed in room 103.
"It was around Valentine's Day 2004. We opened the Carriage Works on Thanksgiving in November 2003 so it opened a little bit before the hotel.
"We were listed as one of the top 50 hotels before we were opened so it was quite the accolade and we've grown since then really. I remember my first day sitting on the sofa in the corner wondering what if nobody comes and they did come and they continue to come – it’s wonderful.
"We've had some fairly staggering guests over the years from Condoleezza Rice to Taylor Swift, Maradona. We've had some great people come here to say.
"Rafa Benitez signed his contract here for Liverpool. Liverpool FC, we've been very close with them for a long time so our footballing connections are huge."
As well as notable figures, Hope Street Hotel has also welcomed customers from across Merseyside and beyond, becoming a place where many special memories have been made. Dave said: "One of the things that stood out to me, particularly during covid, was the support from customers.
"Customers wrote to us saying we’ll come back, we hope you and the staff are ok and it really meant a lot. It's a remarkable thing to have achieved and I think it's testimony to my team that people want to come back.
"It's just an endless source of joy and pride to see people happy in whatever space it is – whether people got married here, come back for an anniversary or proposed to their fiancés here, or say we had our first date here."
Hope Street Hotel has kept expanding and innovating with two major extensions in 2009 and 2021. It now includes 149 bedrooms, two restaurants, a private 39-seat cinema, nine event spaces, and a multi-award-winning spa.
The first expansion, integrating the adjacent 1970s police station, doubled the number of bedrooms and created a new front door and reception. The most recent project has extended into and built upon the adjacent 1931 Grade II-listed premises, originally The Royal School for the Blind, seamlessly combining some of Liverpool’s finest old buildings with a contemporary guest experience.
A complex build, it has brought together buildings from four different eras and over four different footprints. The whole development was undertaken whilst keeping the hotel open.
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Dave said: "It’s not easy, we opened just post 9/11 so the world was quite tough then, we opened the second phase around 2008 and there was a financial crisis then and our final phase we had covid so every time we've opened a new bit there's been a global catastrophe. We've made it through some tough times and it's a lovely business to be in."
Hope Street Hotel seamlessly blends city chic with the charm of the historic buildings’ original feature and original artworks by Liverpool artist Adrian Henri hang in The London Carriage Works and in the reception.
Dave said: "The welcome the customers get is so important. I came from South Yorkshire where everyone looked each other in the eye and said hello. I traipsed around the country looking at universities and I found the warmth you receive in Liverpool is why I came here in the first place. I think keeping that is what hospitality is about."
More recently, the team have also expanded to have a sister property. Opened in May 2023, School Lane Hotel is a brand-new rooms-only independent hotel located in the Russell Building in the heart of the Liverpool ONE retail and entertainment destination.
It's now been 20 years since Hope Street Hotel opened its doors to the public, something Dave said he didn't initially envision decades ago. He said: "I am immensely proud to be celebrating Hope Street Hotel’s 20th birthday.
"It has been an incredible team effort from the very beginning. Thanks go to everyone involved past and present – all our fabulous front and back of house staff who work tirelessly for our guests, as well as the architects, engineers and builders who have helped realise our ambitious plans.
"Our thanks also go to all who choose to stay with us and enjoy all that Hope Street Hotel has to offer. We love being a firm favourite for visitors to the city.
"We look forward to welcoming new and returning guests for the next 20 years and beyond – providing impeccable service in beautiful spaces, as part of the very best that Liverpool has to offer." To mark its 20th anniversary, Hope Street Hotel will be announcing a series of special promotions which will run throughout the year including a special spa and stay package and a 20th birthday cocktail that will run all year changing with the seasons.
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