A GBP30m refurbishment of the Turnberry Hotel that was delayed by a change of contractor last month will be completed in time for the Open Championship, the R&A assured yesterday, writes Douglas Lowe.
Miller Construction were replaced at the behest of Turnberry's Dubai-based owners, Leisurecorp, by a new firm, Interserve, but David Hill, the R&A's director of championships, said: "We are satisfied that preparations for the hotel are on schedule and it will be ready to serve as headquarters and accommodation for competitors." The hotel, high on the hill behind the Ailsa course with its distinctive red roof, was yesterday fronted by scaffolding over most if its length.
"The major priority of the refurbishment has been replacing existing windows on the sea-facing elevation to make the building weather-tight, " said Hill. "Removal of the scaffolding has already begun and it is anticipated that by late May these works will be completed.
"In the last few months the hotel has been stripped back to basics literally and the focus for the coming months will be the reinstatement of the infrastructure and partitioning and reconfiguration of public areas and rooms. It really will be quite a grand place."
David Spencer, chief executive of Leisurecorp's golf division, said there were always going to be two phases of the refurbishment.
"In the first phase there will be 181 rooms ready out of 209 and all of the public spaces while the second phases next winter will involve the balance of the rooms. It always was going to be a two-stage process."
