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Swiss Cottage Restaurant

The only way I can see Swiss Cottage coming back is as part of a S106 agreement - don't think it is a listed building, but may be wrong. Certainly the restoration work Towers have done under previous S106 agreements has been very good, on listed buildings.
 
Swiss Cottage is Grade II listed, they did apply for permission and completed some works a couple of years back to remove some of the more recent extensions that had been added in the 70/80’s when it became a restaurant as they were in a poor state and weren’t in keeping with the original building.

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It would be good to see it put back to some use, but I suspect the costs versus return would be a tricky one to get funding for.
 
It's a shame it's a little too out of the way to really be something for guests to go and use. I was surprised by how big it is inside (a VERY large cottage) but probably not big enough to be a proper sit down restaurant. Just echoing what other people are saying, it's not in a very heavy foot traffic area to really get much attention, and I think it'd struggle if it were a restaurant.

Even as a tearoom, I couldn't really see it being super popular enough to be profitable.

If there was enough attention put on the gardens for older visitors then maybe it could be used as a quick service place for people needing something to go, but again, you'd have to get a lot of people in the gardens for it to be really deemed profitable.
 
Ignoring the work that inevitably needs to be done on the cottage to make it safe for a second, would it work as a vip experience that you can book? Just do a fancy afternoon tea package, bottomless tea, fancy cups and saucers. With some other extras included like some sort of towers merch, maybe a small resin of the cottage itself? Upgrades you can purchase too. Handful of bookings each day say between 11-3pm. Due to it being booked in advance they’ll only need to order what they need for their bookings and opening times limited so costs would be kept lower in that sense. But they could still charge for a premium experience in a unique setting. Might be profitable that way if they advertised it well.
 
If the gardens were sorted and cared for more attentively, then advertised more, it would work very nicely simply as a tea room during the summer months, with teas, scones, ice creams, some sandwiches…

It could work as an experience type thing. Maybe a ‘heritage experience’. Guided tour of the Towers ruins, tour of the gardens, followed by afternoon tea.

I wish Towers would treat their heritage with more love and make it a part of the resort experience. Merlin/Towers have really let that side of the resort down. I know they’ve done some work and restorations but that feels more of an obligation. The Towers is one giant storage facility, the gardens have been rotting and overgrowing for years. Hopefully something Bianca and co can improve over the coming years.
 
I’m all for this, people make a great suggestion when they say a package deal! But I’d be concerned about its longevity after a few seasons. And if it is to open please please keep Aramark away from it.
 
I've always liked the idea of it being turned into a premium place "hotel offering" - somewhere to stay actually in the park. There would clearly be issues around limiting access around the park and monitoring movements, but it could really be a real premium (ie. Money spinning) product.

For example - if they could turn it into a 4 bedroom luxury home. After hours you have access to the gardens and your own concierge who could drive you to the hotel bars, your car etc. in a golf cart. They could easily charge £2-3k a night (maybe even more) and I have no doubt people would pay it.
 
Accommodation offering wouldn't work due to people sneaking out at night into the park. However, as someone said above, it could work if it was only open in the summer months for somewhere to sit outside and have a drink and a cake while enjoying the later evening openings in the sunshine. Plenty of room outside for tables and chairs
 
You'd get enough for a wedding, but not a large wedding. You'd maybe be able to get a congregation of 50, so suitable in some circumstances.

But like Rob says, they'd need to sort out the Gardens first, you'd be paying a premium for the view, and at the moment the view is a little... neglected.
 
Squiggs said:
You'd get enough for a wedding, but not a large wedding. You'd maybe be able to get a congregation of 50, so suitable in some circumstances.

But like Rob says, they'd need to sort out the Gardens first, you'd be paying a premium for the view, and at the moment the view is a little... neglected.
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In the biggest room?

It’s a long time since I was in there but i don’t remember one room being so big
 
I would have thought that main room has a reasonable capacity to it. Given that, I believe it was the entire space dedicated to the restaurant during that era.

I don't think it was much smaller than the space my venue used to use for 70 person weddings (and even then I think our capacity was set by fire restrictions, rather than the number of seats we could have accommodated.)
 
Squiggs said:
I would have thought that main room has a reasonable capacity to it. Given that, I believe it was the entire space dedicated to the restaurant during that era.

I don't think it was much smaller than the space my venue used to use for 70 person weddings (and even then I think our capacity was set by fire restrictions, rather than the number of seats we could have accommodated.)
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I remember it being a bit of a non uniform space however, but I really could be wrong as the last time I was in there I was with you and we still worked on the “other site” 😂
 
Haha, I am definitely trying to recall details from the same trip.

I have just dug out one of the 1980s guides, which list the restaurant capacity as 100 (though I think that included the terrace).
 
Having actually eaten in there, I can honestly say I have no recollection whatsoever!
Mum liked the food, silver service, I rushed mine to get back to the corkscrew.
 
While you might get 50 in there they wouldn’t be all in the same room from what I recall.

Photo below is of the main room even we did a tour in 2010
 

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