From Kettering asylum hostel to 'out of this world' luxury hotel - the town centre venue being restored to its former glory

Rebuilt in 1878, Kettering’s grandest town centre hotel once welcomed Queen Victoria – and it’s features from the time of her reign that will be restored thanks to a seven-figure planned investment.

Entrepreneur Na’ím Paymán, the 30-year-old owner of the Royal Hotel, says he will bring back to life the Grade II listed grandee of the Market Place as a weddings venue, community hub and conference space.

More than 50 workers are pulling out the dated modernisations that have been added over the decades to reveal the architectural bare bones of the building.

Mr Paymán said: “We’ve just started stripping it out, that began a couple of weeks ago. So far we have found some amazing things like original Victorian mosaic floor on the ground floor and lovely fireplaces in almost every room which just had been bricked up – I think people were trying to be modern – but I really love those original features and we are trying to restore as much as we can.

“Now the walls are out we can take a look how we can reconfigure some of the bathrooms which were unnecessarily large compared to the size of some tiny bedrooms. We can start to plan to see what we can do to make it what we want it to be – a luxury hotel that offers a very comfortable and impressive stay if anyone decides to come and will want to come back again and again. We want to be a hub for the local community, a sought-after wedding venue and conference centre."

He added: “Queen Victoria stayed here in 1844. I’m Baháʼí and the founder of the Baháʼí faith wrote to world leaders. Queen Victoria was the only one to acknowledge him. Maybe it was meant to be.

"It’s a building with so much character, it’s a big part of the town. Its location in the centre of England we hope will attract people from near and far. It’s got the fabric, it’s got the potential to be something really out of this world.”

More than 100 skips full of debris will have been removed before the rebuilding of the interiors. Ground floor units facing the Market Place will be used as a beauty salon for guests and a conference room – the total cost of the project is estimated to be £2m.

Visitors to the hotel will be able to relax in a mini-lounge complete with open fire – the area where the Victorian tiled floor has been discovered.

The main wedding venue in the hotel’s ballroom will be renamed The Royal Victoria Hall. Guests to the hotel may expect a bar selling alcohol, but only pre-booked events will be allowed to bring in their own drinks, in accordance with his faith.

Mr Paymán admits when he bought the hotel to revive its fortunes, it had fallen on hard times.

He said: “Before we bought it, it was basically being used as a brothel and a drug dealing centre.”

Responding to the recent newspaper reports that Mr Paymán had received £565,000 for housing asylum seekers, he said the money was made by the ‘middle men’.

He said: “That only covered expenses. We had to keep adding things they wanted. All that money has gone unfortunately.”

Work has begun on the hotel’s main rooms including uncovering and repairing stained glass windows, ornate painted lantern roof lights and the Jacobean-style, semi-circle bow windows.

The current total of 43 en-suite rooms may be reduced to knock through for larger spaces. Investment will see a planned honeymoon suite overlooking the Market Place with hopes to make use of the large attics.

It is hoped a lift can be installed for guests and the kitchens can be moved into the large basement.

Couples will be able to have their ceremony, wedding breakfast, drinks reception and accommodation – all under one roof.

Mr Paymán added: “It’s scary but I’m excited to see hotel realise its potential.”