Found at the heart of the lively market town of Cirencester, the Kings Head hotel has reopened in all its past glory, bringing a touch of the modern to an otherwise historic setting. Part of an extensive restoration programme, Wilton Carpets Commercial has ensured the 1900 square metres of carpet specified adds to the boutique ambiance found throughout.Calico Interiors, the Gloucestershire-based company chosen to take on the interior design, felt it was imperative that any carpets chosen fulfilled the brief in offering light and natural design.
The first task was selecting a carpet for use in the 45 guest rooms, one that would exude class but also a homeliness, the like of which is popular among modern hotel owners. The guests would require a space in which they could unwind and unravel; in essence, a place they could call home, even if just for a night.
The tufted Zen Natural from the Ready to Go collection ticked all the right boxes, offering chic simplicity through its 100% pure wool pile. Sarah Mitchell, a designer at Calico Interiors, tells us, “Bold patterning was strictly off limits, this was an opportunity to break away from the traditional look with more subtle shading, as we see in Zen”.
As part of Wilton Carpets’ Ready to Go concept, the linear loop pile of Zen is available from stock for fast and easy access to a durable medium contract tufted carpet ideal for bedroom use. With a range of designs to cater for the varying style needs of hospitality environments and in colours well-proven and versatile, the Ready to Go collection features both tufted and axminster woven carpets, providing solutions ideal for the majority of locations.
Corridor and stair carpet was also to be specified, this time bespoke custom graphics opted for by the Calico Interiors team.
“With the corridors, as was the case with the bedrooms, we were looking for a natural option,” Sarah continues. “We gave Wilton a brief with a selection of potential colours, and they responded with a range of hand trials from which we could choose. As ever, the product selected fitted in with our vision, ensuring another crucial element of the project was carried out to the standards required. Wilton are always flexible when it comes to custom design, and this is a large factor in our continued engagement with the company.”
Since the hotel’s reopening, the response to both the bespoke and Ready to Go carpets has been distinctly positive. From the start, the Kings Head has been about creating a place where guests could escape, an opportunity to relax and clear their minds. Wilton Carpets Commercial most certainly played its part in the marvellous end result.
”The designs are understated in the all the right ways, Wilton’s tufted carpets bringing the bespoke capability we were looking for and within our budget,” Sarah Mitchell explains. “The brief was to create a homely feeling boutique hotel, with an emphasis on the interior being ‘non-contract’ in style. I think the results speak for themselves, the carpets really working in tandem with their surroundings.”
