Burgh Island’s new owners are throwing open the metaphorical doors to the general public as they take their first steps with their new venture.

Giles Fuchs and Duncan Gray are the two main men behind the venture to run what they call a “local community asset”.

“We want the island to be open to the public”, Duncan said, “so they can look at and share in this beautiful place. The hotel is a business and as a commercial venture it needs to succeed, but we are custodians of the island and we will look after it.”

The new owners are planning to keep the art deco genre of the hotel but “upgrade the luxury” and add some more guest experiences such as a better spa and treatment centre.

Attention to detail is also a high priority for the new owners with touching up of decoration, repainting of the main gates and auxiliary buildings and the tidying up of areas visible on the island.

They’re also planning an area for alfresco dining near the stunning mermaid pool below the hotel, a pool that is filled by the sea at high tide and retained by two sea walls when the tide drops.

This area needs some “tidying up” with the repairing of one of the sea walls and the creation of an area for people to enjoy dining and live music in the sheltered spot with the sound of the sea in the background.

Live music also features highly in the pair’s plans for the hotel, with an ambition for ‘Music at Burgh’ being a draw to people from across the area.

Some people who have been following the goings-on at Burgh Island for a while will be pleased to know that the proposed pool house spanning two headlands above the mermaid pool are being scrapped.

Duncan said: “We appreciate the design, and we know it won a design award, but it doesn’t fit into our plans for Burgh Island and we have to listen to the community.”

The black tie dining in the main ballroom will stay, giving a real sense of occasion to the room where Winston Churchill and General Eisenhower discussed the D-Day landings during the Second World War, with live music seven nights a week.

The Ganges Restaurant, built with the captain cabin of the RAF flagship HMS Ganges, will hopefully become a destination restaurant for both guests and non-residents by reservation.

The pub, the Pilchard Inn, was built in 1336 and is the only pub in Bigbury. Duncan and Giles plan to covert the downstairs cellar into a kitchen with a pizza oven and bar, providing refreshments for beach-goers with a focus on “simple things done well”: sandwiches, coffees, ice-creams, burgers and pizzas.

The large queues will avoided using an electronic pager, meaning you can order your food and drink at the bar and go back to enjoying yourself in the surf and sand, and the pager will vibrate when your order is ready to be collected.

Another new plan for the guests at Burgh Island Hotel is the introduction of a ‘sea taxi’, a boat - with wheels for low tide - that can connect guests to local beaches and villages: Thurlestone, Hope Cove, Bantham, Salcombe, as well as local businesses on the mainland.

It will be one of many “pop-up guest experiences” that the new team is keen to implement, giving guests a unique and luxurious experience while staying at Burgh Island. Giles and Duncan have more plans in the pipeline for the hotel, which are currently being kept under wraps.

The new vision for Burgh Island will require more staff, and the new team are keen to recruit from the local populace.

“We have amazing staff”, Duncan said, “and our vision is all about integrating with the local community. Guests love when our staff have local knowledge and we want to hire from within the community.

“We will be needing kitchen staff drivers, maintenance staff, bar staff, gardeners, and more, and there is great progression opportunities for staff too.”

Giles and Duncan, who are on site at least two or three days a week currently, with one of their team on site at all times, are looking to invest a lot of money into the hotel and the island, and are in the lucky position to have funds ready and available, no waiting for investors or compromising on their plans.

You can find out more about the hotel and its history on the website: www.burghisland.com