insideKENT Magazine Issue 46 - January 2016 | Page 90

VISITKENT

COMING SUMMER 2016

The Yarrow Hotel,
BROADSTAIRS

In 2013, East Kent College announced plans to develop a new fourstar training hotel at their Broadstairs campus, promising high quality
service and exciting opportunities for all.
The hotel, due to open summer 2016, will serve
as both an excellent training base for students
in the travel, tourism and hospitality industries,
and as a high-quality hotel supporting the
economic prosperity of Thanet and East Kent. It
is supported by the Skills Funding Agency and
will be the first hotel of its kind nationally, within
Further Education.
We caught up with The Yarrow Hotel’s general
manager Brian de Barra to talk about the new
hot spot on Broadstairs’ shores…
Originally from West Cork, Brian trained in
business and hospitality management and went
on to work in five-star hotels across the UK and

Ireland – including The Dorchester. He moved to
Kent with his wife in 2013 and joined East Kent
College as The Yarrow’s general manager last
summer.
“When I moved to Kent, I came across the advert
for the Hotel General Manager in the local paper
and applied straightaway,” he said. “What inspired
me about the advert was a chance to develop
people who would be studying hospitality.
“As a student myself, I had lecturers and
employers who inspired me and got me where
I am today, so I am now in a position to do the
same for students and the hotel team members
who want to pursue careers.”

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When completed, guests at The Yarrow will be
able to enjoy breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea,
dinner, celebrate in private dining spaces, and
book hair and beauty treatments. There will also
be a hot tub, sauna and steam room, substantial
garden and relaxation room. An events space
for up to 150 guests will also be able to
accommodate weddings and celebrations.
It will be situated in the well-known Grade II listed
Yarrow building on campus, a former children’s
convalescent home built by Sir Alfred Yarrow in
the late 19th century. The building has a rich and
varied past, which the team intend to celebrate
by displaying dozens of old photographs of the
building from years gone by throughout the
finished hotel.