The accommodation, which is expected to open later this year, will be created within part of the brewery’s former office space on Cliffe High Street following the relocation of staff to Harvey’s Depot site in Daveys Lane.
The project is being delivered in partnership with JSA Architects, Cheesmur Building Contractors and Pfeiffer Design.
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Experience-led hospitality
Harvey’s chairman and managing director Hamish Elder told The Morning Advertiser (MA) that the move reflected growing demand for experience-led hospitality, while helping preserve part of the historic brewery site.
He said: “We increasingly recognise that people are looking for experiences and authenticity alongside products. The brewery already attracts significant interest from visitors, and accommodation felt like a logical next step.”
The development forms part of a wider multi-million-pound investment programme across the site, with the initial eight rooms accounting for around £1.5m of spend.
Long-term view
Elder said the scheme involved “significant structural and defensive works” to historic buildings and was designed with a long-term view.
He added: “The project is about more than accommodation. It is also about preserving an important part of the brewery site for future generations.”
The rooms will sit alongside Harvey’s existing brewery tours, tastings and events programme, with guests able to stay within the working brewery site.
Elder said: “The rooms are intended to complement that experience. Guests will be able to stay in a traditional working brewery, within walking distance of the town, our pubs and the wider Sussex countryside.”
While Harvey’s said there was no blanket rollout plan for similar developments elsewhere in the estate, Elder confirmed accommodation and experiential hospitality would continue to play a growing role for historic regional brewers.
“To an extent, yes,” he said. “We recognise that heritage, tourism and hospitality increasingly overlap, particularly for historic regional brewers.”
