SEVEN new en-suite bedrooms have opened at the new Sloanes Hotel in Haxby.

Gary Watkinson, owner, first launched Sloanes Restaurant on the site of what was the old Jinnah Restaurant in York Road last April.

Since then he has invested £30,000 to upgrade the rooms which had been unused since the days when the building was the Haxby Court Hotel which fell into disuse.

Mr Watkinson sold the Beckett guest house in Bootham Crescent, York, in May to fund the venture.

He said: "We have just started taking the first guests and hope to link the overnight stay for functions and weddings in the restaurant."

His overall investment of £80,000 has resulted in a 56-seater a la carte restaurant with public wine bar and coffee lounge furnished in cream and brown leather.

"Every weekend my restaurant is full and with the hotel rooms I wanted to provide more of the same - something that Haxby and Wigginton people don't have and really deserve, namely a place where elegance is standard."

Updated: 10:46 Tuesday, July 26, 2005