The Richard Spooner Column: Grand to be back�

What a pleasure it was this week to take my first purely social trip into Birmingham in about 16 months.

My destination was the refurbished Grand Hotel, where I was invited to sample the fair in their Isaac 's New York-style brasserie, named after the founder of Hortons property group.

Hortons opened the hotel in 1879 and are still the owners of this outstanding building sitting in the heart of the city, overlooking St. Philip 's Cathedral. And today it has been restored to its magnificent former splendour.

Given my great age, I can remember arriving at The Grand by horse and carriage in the Victorian era but this week I had to run the gauntlet of a clean air zone and cough up a parking fee.

But the journey was worth it. The hotel, after lying dormant for the best part of 20 years, is now coming back to life. The buzz of chatter, the clinking of glasses and the general hustle and bustle are all music to the ears of general manager Peter Kienast.

The German-born boss has been put in charge of bringing to life one of the most important buildings in the city. And he relishes the challenge.

He said that redeveloping the hotel had been a pleasure but the real delight is having people back in the hotel.

And I can vouch for that. To at last eat in a busy restaurant among other diners was amazing after such a long time. And even though we had to be socially-distanced and be-masked, it made little difference to the ambience.

The food was good too. And the enthusiasm and friendliness of the staff will ensure that Isaac 's establishes itself as a regular spot for diners and drinkers.

The building has been changed to such a degree that it is difficult to work out where Isaac 's is in relation to its former self. But I 'm sure it is the old bar entered from Barwick Street which was a favourite lunchtime haunt for me and a number of my journalist colleagues who worked in the nearby Post and Mail building.

I also look forward to revisiting the old ballroom, which was often the scene of fun-packed evenings, mainly for the Press Ball, organised by Birmingham Press Club, which briefly has its own lounge bar in the Grand.

Peter tells me a celebration opening party is planned for later in the year when hopefully we are out of this Covid mess.

It will be quite a bash if it rivals those of us who remember the opening of the Grand 's neighbour, the Hotel du Vin in 1994.

It was an historic Saturday night and is still spoken of only in hushed tones by the people who were lucky enough to be there.

Let 's toast a return to those happy Brum days�

JL