Story of Arlington House Hotel

Hi, and thank you very much for taking the time to read the story of Arlington House Hotel!

I'm Ben Ross, a 33-year-old from Guildford, Surrey. I moved to Newcastle in 2013 because of the same reason many other southerners end up in the deep north - a Geordie girl!

I've always dreamt about having my own business, but unfortunately, my stammer paralyzed me with fear. It wasn't until I was 30, in March 2020, that I finally decided to do something about it.

I attended the McGuire Programme, a 4-day intensive course to help people with their stammers.

The course taught me tools and techniques to control my stammer. I then had to go out into the street and practice the tools on members of the public. I also had to do a public talk on Watford High Street (photo shown below).

It was the hardest four days of my life, and I have no shame in admitting there were many tears. Breaking down psychological barriers that had been in place for 30 years.

I came out of that course a new person. A person on a mission to pursue his dreams of being an entrepreneur. The result is Arlington House Hotel three years later.

If you know anyone who is struggling with a stammer at the moment, I'd highly recommend the McGuire Programme. I'm now a coach helping other students on the programme and would be more than happy to speak to anyone to provide more information about the programme. Just reach out to me, or you can click here to look at their website.

Back to the hotel...

If I could be so cheeky as to ask you to spread the word about the hotel to all your friends and family, it would be greatly appreciated!

I hope you enjoy the story of Arlington House Hotel.

This project has really stretched her to her limits for two reasons.

1: She's only ever designed residential spaces she's lived in before, never a hotel.

2. She had to work with me for 11 months! We did well to make it to the other side and still be talking!

A brief statement from Jane

"All my life, I have bought houses that needed fixing up. There was never enough money in the pot to pay other people to do the work, so I learned to do a lot of practical tasks myself, from tiling to making curtains, landscaping and basic carpentry, hence the nickname ‘Jane of All Trades’.

Arlington House Hotel is my first larger-scale commercial interior design project, and as such, has been a roller coaster ride.

My aim has been to create a miniature home from home for you to relax and enjoy. I wanted each room to have comfortable, but flexible spaces for you to sit and enjoy breakfast, coffee, snack, chat, read a book, watch TV, or flip the laptop open. Above all we wanted you to sleep in comfortable and luxurious beds!

Arlington House Hotel is an early Victorian town house, full of period charm. Our mission has been to retain and restore the original features as far as possible. Modern furniture has been mixed with auction finds to create a fusion of styles, blending old and new.

We hope you enjoy the spaces we have designed."