Middlethorpe Hall

Middlethorpe Hall in York is now one of the most highly-regarded hotels in the North of England. With its enviable location consisting of 20 acres of manicured gardens and parkland, the Grade II listed building was originally built in 1699 and began life as a hotel in 1984. In 2008, ownership of the mellow red brick building transferred to the National Trust by donation and today the venue boasts 29 bedrooms and a Luxury Health Spa.

After a period of neglect, Middlethorpe Hall was sympathetically restored with decorations, antiques and fine painting consistent to the style of the 18th century, but behind the scenes, the most advanced and modern laundry machinery keeps the hotel operating to optimum capabilities, incorporating equipment from Electrolux Professional.

The spa is one of the major features of the hotel, with an indoor swimming pool, steam room and sauna, as well as a gym. Hygiene and cleanliness within this area are paramount and having the laundry inhouse is an enormous asset as it provides the control required for maintaining these areas and removes the costs of outsourcing.

Taking care of the laundry needs of guests and staff at the historic hotel in York is not an easy task so the hotel turned to Electrolux Professional to supply a cutting edge solution to match every requirement. The hotel opted to install a full on premises laundry (OPL) including washing, drying and ironing equipment, discreetly housed within an outside building containing both the equipment and store.

The Middlethorpe laundry facility possesses two W4240H Washers from Electrolux Professional, with high extraction force capabilities for efficient dewatering. Each machine also possesses the Automatic Savings Systemwhereby it weighs the linen and adjusts the amount of water and energy according to the load, leading to considerable savings when the machine is not fully loaded. The large doors make it easy to load and unload and it operates at low noise levels for a comfortable working environment. Also included are two highly efficient T4530 Tumble Dryers with the ability to process two full loads per hour. An IC43316 cylinder type ironing model – which can process flatwork such as sheets, duvet covers and table cloths, as well as processing standard small piece work such as napkins and pillowcases – completes the OPL at Middlethorpe.

Lionel Chatard, Director and General Manager of Middlethorpe Hall commented: “Laundry is a priority for us. Not only do we have to ensure we clean guests’ towels, bed linen, table linen and uniforms on a daily basis, but we also have an extremely busy spa to cater for in terms of our linen and towelling.
Possessing an in-house laundry gives us complete control over our linen and its quality. The smell and crispness of the linen is important to us as some laundries can produce a hospital type scent whereas we now have control over these finer details that help us to maintain the luxurious nature of our premises. The equipment from Electrolux fits our needs perfectly – we have it running for at least eight hours every day, it is easy for all my staff to use, and it performs consistently.”