Chester Heights: a look behind the scenes
Chester Heights: a look behind the scenes
If you’ve ever wondered how a serviced accommodation company like Guestz actually works, you’re in luck. We’ve just launched a fantastic new development, Chester Heights. And we thought we’d take the opportunity to tell the world how we work our magic! So here’s the story of how we found the right building in the right place. How we reimagined it as a set of amazing apartments. And how we transformed the site to make that vision a reality.
It starts with demand
We know historically there’s huge demand for serviced accommodation in Chester. The little gem of a city is our own home after all. And home to the most complete city walls, the oldest racecourse and the largest Roman amphitheatre in Britain. Plus a 1,000-year-old cathedral and the 700-year-old temple to shopping that is the Rows galleries! It’s also handy for Liverpool, Manchester and north Wales. So the hard part was finding a site that hadn’t already been snapped up. Specifically, we were looking for a block of 15-20 units to meet the demand.
Picking the right partner and acquiring the right site
We teamed up with experienced developers Marc Levy and Neil Whitely of Gainsborough 7. They specialise in finding ‘doer-upper’ sites and bringing them up to their full potential. We’d worked with them before on developments in Settle and Lytham-St-Annes. So we knew we could rely on them to deliver.
Marc and Neil found the perfect site just outside Chester’s city walls. It’s a quiet, serene setting, with some fabulous views over the Welsh hills to the west. And with a little imagination, we could see it would make for perfect new rental apartments. We did our own due diligence and priced up what would become the individual units. Then the developers brokered an off-market deal to purchase the site.
Sharing the vision and bringing it to life
The next step was to share our own vision of the site to get buy-in from investors. We produced floor plans and created launch brochures and videos to show them what they’d be getting. Not just any old off-plan property, but attractive apartment that would meet demand in style. And generate a healthy income in the process.
We then sourced contractors for the works needed to bring everything up to standard. These included builders, decorators, carpet fitters, electricians and plumbers. And we drew on our network of tried and tested contractors who we knew would do us proud.
Our in-house interior design team then designed each unit individually. They also got input from the new owners. And when a design was agreed, they purchased and installed the furniture. In fact, we installed it. On ‘flat pack days’, our whole team decamped from the office to put the furniture together on site! Then we took photos to show off our work to the owners and potential guests alike.
Opening for business
Developments like this often overrun by 6-12 months. By contrast, we managed everything inside 12 months. Having started with demand but no site a year ago, we now have 18 amazing properties to let. Each one with its own personality. So we’re delighted to say Chester Heights is fully open for bookings. Why not check out the pictures and book your stay? And if you’re excited by the idea of investing in a similar property, we’d love to hear from you too. We look forward to working on many more such projects in the years ahead.
