It is full steam ahead for a luxury Cheshire hotel which has announced a link-up with a national coffee chain.

Marco Costa set up Caffe Torelli in 2001 and Donald Macdonald, the executive chairman of Macdonald Hotels and Resorts, decided to find out more about the company after tasting their coffee in Scotland.

The result was a contract with all the Macdonald Hotels south of Manchester and Caffe Torelli drinks are now served in the lounge at the Macdonald Portal Hotel, Golf and Spa in Cobblers Cross Lane, Tarporley.

Adrian Tapping, Director of Operations at Caffe Torelli, said he was confident the hotel’s guests would be complimentary about the fair-trade coffee they would be served at the venue.

“Coffee is a very important part of our lives in the UK nowadays and to have a good quality coffee is very important,” he said.

“We’re looking forward now to having the coffee more readily available in half of the Macdonald group in the next few weeks and months.

“Marco was quite instrumental in the lay-out of the coffee lounge at Portal because we do like to be pro-active with our customers.

“The hotel has a fantastic location and Macdonald Hotels really think about the beverages they provide their customers.

“This benefits the whole UK hotel industry because they think about the quality of the coffee they offer in each establishment.

“Caffe Torelli is becoming increasingly more popular because it is a mixture of the history of the Costa name and the Costa family having a tradition of providing quality coffee.

“We want to make sure our customers’ customers receive a fine satisfying cup of coffee.”

Paul Spencer, general manager of the Macdonald Portal Hotel, Golf and Spa, added: “We have a mixture of delegates, leisure customers and business people enjoying refreshments in the coffee lounge and we want to ensure we are providing the best possible coffee.

“Caffe Torelli is a growing company that has customers throughout the UK as well as in 11 countries and we are delighted to be bringing their coffee to Cheshire.”

Notes to editors
Macdonald Hotels & Resorts Limited operates 48 hotels across the UK and ten resorts throughout the UK and Spain.  The company employs over 4,400 staff and operates in excess of 3900 hotel rooms. First established in 1990 by Donald Macdonald and colleagues, the company was floated in 1996 on the main London Stock Exchange. In 2003, it returned to private ownership and was one of Scotland’s biggest public to private deals at a cost of £620m, which was wholly underwritten by the Bank of Scotland.  The Bank now owns 50% of the equity with the remainder held by the management.

The Group’s focus is on developing its strong portfolio of four and five star hotels, with each offering its own character and individuality underpinned with the quality and attention to detail expected of the Macdonald brand. In particular, the company prides itself on the seasonality and provenance of its food within the hotels, from breakfast through to dinner, as well as its wide range of specially selected wines. The Group has recently embarked on a programme of investment and refurbishment that includes properties such as Macdonald Blossoms in Chester, Macdonald Old England in Windermere and Compleat Angler in Marlow.
The Group has also recently created two new hotels – the Macdonald Portal Hotel and Spa was launched in July 2007 on the site of the Portal Championship Golf Course, in Tarporley, Cheshire, and the Macdonald Manchester Hotel, situated in the heart of the city centre, adjacent to Piccadilly Station, opened in October 2007.

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