St Austell's £2m splash on rooms

South-west family brewery St Austell has invested more than £2m in adding 33 letting rooms to the County Arms in Truro, Cornwall.

The new en-suite bedrooms mean St Austell now has more than 300 letting rooms in its managed estate.

St Austell's marketing director Jeremy Mitchell explained that St Austell is pushing food and accommodation in its pubs.

The brewery has also hired accommodation revenue manager Candace Jury who overlooks opportunities for tenants to make the most of their letting rooms, such as advising on room charges and best practice on sites including TripAdvisor.

The new additions at the County Arms include interconnecting rooms aimed at families, while some at the rear overlook a wooded valley. Prices range from £50 to £100, which are inclusive of VAT.

Mitchell explained that the pub's roadside location, near the centre of the city, makes it ideal for overnight stays and leisure breaks.

"It's a different way forward, and I know that the licensees' (Kelly and Anthony Woodcock) long-term ambition has been to run a pub/hotel," added Mitchell.

"They've come from a background in hotels and we moved them over from another pub they had been running."

The rooms will be up and running by the end of June, but the Woodcocks are taking bookings now.