THE Imperial Hotel in Henley is to re-open next year.

The Station Road hotel, which has been closed since 2006, is being refurbished.

The black and white exterior has been repainted and work on the interior will take place over the winter.

Hotel owner Raymond Crockett, who lives in Remenham, said: “Normally speaking we would paint in the summer but they had to postpone it because the weather has been so bad.

“We’ve had it on the list to do for a little while and they just wanted to get it out of the way.


“It doesn’t mean the hotel is anywhere near ready yet, though. We’re doing our best to reconstruct it. If we get it finished it could be a fairly high-class hotel but we have a little time to go.”

Dr Crockett said he hoped the Imperial0 would be ready in the spring but no date had been set for the re-opening.

He said the hotel might have an “upmarket” restaurant because he believed there were no stand-out venues in the town.

Michelin-starred chef Simon Rogan tried to buy the hotel shortly before it closed and planned to convert it into a restaurant and champagne bar but the deal fell through.

Dr Crockett said: “The whole business of the hotel being closed is unfortunate because various people wanted to buy it, including Simon Rogan.

“We agreed to do a joint venture but after two years of mucking about we had to close it and collect ourselves. It has been closed for a while longer than we had hoped but it’s not really our fault.”

Published 29/10/12