The Grand in Southport town centre will unveil its brand new Princess Grace Suite this week.
The ground floor of the stunning art deco venue on Lord Street, formerly The Grand Casino, opened in July, featuring The Grand Brasserie and Chloe’s Piano Bar.
This Friday (14th October) will see the official opening of the second phase in the ambitious project, with people able to view the Princess Grace Suite on the first floor.
The stylish function and events space seats 250 people while its huge windows provide beautiful views across Lord Street as sunlight floods into the room.
The suite also features the legendary Disney windows, which were created in the 1930s following agreement from Walt Disney himself when the historic building was used as a cinema.
The scenes feature a series of Disney characters including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and have been lovingly restored.
Owner Andrew Mikhail, who heads Mikhail Hotel & Leisure Group, has led a £4million investment into the venue already, with more to come.
Harry’s Bar and the Sky Bar on the top floor are scheduled to open in Spring next year while Phase II of the extensive renovation programme will see hotel rooms and spa facilities added.
Mikhail Hotel & Leisure Group has already invested extensively in Southport, transforming Lord Street’s ‘Northern Quarter’ through The Bold Hotel, the Lord Street Hotel, the Lord Street Hotel Sports Bar and Punch Tarmey’s Irish themed bar. The firm also operates the feature bar in the centre of Southport Market.
The Princess Grace Suite has hosted its first event, a 40th birthday party for champion boxer Martin Murray. Martin held the WBA Interim Middleweight title from 2011 to 2014, the British and Commonwealth titles between 2010 and 2012 and challenged five times for a world title.
He’s not alone in believing the new venue will prove to be a knockout.
While the official opening is this Friday, the suite is already open for viewings for anyone who wants to look around it with event bookings in mind.
The room has been named in honour of Grace, one of Andrew and Vicky Mikhail’s children (Chloe and Harry have been similarly honoured), as well as Princess Grace of Monaco.
The Grand General Manager Eimear.McElroy said: “The Princess Grace Suite is a 250-seater function space that is perfect for weddings, anniversaries, birthday parties, surprise parties, conferences, events and other celebrations.
“We have had a lot of inquiries already! It is an absolutely beautiful space, the same quality upstairs as it is downstairs.
“People will also get the chance to admire the room’s famous Disney windows. They are all back and fully restored. It took a long time to ensure they were perfect.
“This building is a blend of the old and the modern, offering our guests a real contemporary experience while respecting the heritage of this magnificent building.
“During the day, the light floods into the room, it looks really good.
“It’s a fantastic view looking out onto Lord Street, both during the day and also at night, when the lights in the trees are sparkling.”
A number of events have already been booked in which people can look forward to.
Eimear said: “We have an 80s Disco Bingo Night with Brendan Riley on Saturday 26th November which has already sold out!
“We have a Wine Club event on 3rd November. Our topic will be the vineyards of Italy, with my old sommelier from Glasgow, John Marshall, taking people on a journey from Veneto to Campania, Piedmont to Puglia. Visitors can enjoy an evening sampling six superb wines with specially selected nibbles to match for £30 per person.
“John is from Kentucky and lives in Glasgow and comes down to Southport specially to host our Wine Club.
“Our first Wine Club event went really well, we had lots of really positive feedback from our guests. Lots of them are already booked for this event and are bringing more friends with them!
“We are working on organising lots more fun events for people to enjoy and are already very busy with our Christmas bookings, including on Christmas Day.”
The magnificent Grade II Listed art deco building was opened in 1923 and has since entertained generations of Sandgrounders as a cinema, as a bingo hall, as an early car showroom, and as the former Grand Casino. It celebrates its 100th birthday next year with the future looking bright.
Eimear said: “We have lots more work to do over these next few months. This building is huge! It is like peeling an onion, with so many different layers to it.
“Once Christmas is out the way we will continue to work on opening our new Sky Bar and Harry’s Bar on the top floor, which will both be ready to enjoy for Spring time.
“The hotel aspect will take shape after that, it is a big project. It will take a good six months to completely refurbish the roof at the back of the building.
“We are looking forward to it. It is the building that never stops giving!
“People who have come in and spoken to us have been saying that restoring and reopening this building is fantastic news for Southport.
“It has that real wow factor and is really putting Southport firmly on the map.
“We have the 100th anniversary of the building coming up next year – we have really big plans for that. People will be excited with what they can look forward to!”
Your wedding, your party, your conference. The Grand creates the occasion that will become a treasured memory, all taken care of by a passionate and dedicated team.
Find out more by visiting: https://www.thegrand.co.uk/gather-at-the-grand/
Email: events@thegrand.co.uk
Or call: 01704 334533.
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