The Spa Hotel
Cathy Kelly is the company director and owner of iconic family run business, The Spa Hotel in Saltburn. Known for its flawless view of the North Sea coastline and countryside, we were delighted to have a chat with Cathy and her business.
Can you tell me the best thing about your company?
I never ever find a day when I don’t want to go into work. It’s a true family business with the most supportive team, led by our fantastic general manager Karen.
Also, the location of the Spa Hotel is lovely; everyone loves to look out at the sea view.
What is your proudest achievement so far?
It’ll sound ridiculous but we’ve redone all of our bathrooms! They have been the stress of my life but we’ve made real progress.
I’m proudest of the fact that we have a recent swell of local support. When we first started, it felt like there was negativity towards the building and we had to spend a lot of time bringing it back, but it’s great to see the community embracing our business.
What challenges have you faced last year and how did you overcome them?
One of the hardest things has been keeping everyone’s morale up and ensuring you have a team to come back to. Our team was fantastic at rallying around, we had weekly quiz nights to keep us all going!
As the business owners it was our job to stay positive, so our team stayed positive. There have been a lot of logistical challenges when it came to reopening, as there were lots of risk assessments and a lot of challenges around planning for the future.
What are you looking forward to later in the year?
Workwise, I’m really looking forward to looking outside and seeing families with their dogs, out on our decking enjoying our food, having a great time.
I’m looking forward to the most wonderful atmosphere, personally I’m looking forward to seeing friends & family and knowing how many lovely things I’m planning. We’ll see all the fun times, the fun side of the hard times. That’s the gift. We’ll see the best of humanity.
What would you say is the best thing about Redcar & Cleveland?
People are hugely supportive of each other, so the huge sense of camaraderie, I love it as an area. Within communities you see people looking after their businesses and I love the fact it’s a bit of a hidden gem. I love it when people come to see us, they say “Wow, I didn’t know it was here”.
I grew up in London and lived in Manchester, you don’t know how lucky you are to be surrounded by this scenery in Saltburn-by-the-Sea. It really is the most beautiful scenery we have on our doorstep.
