For a major regional city, Bristol is remarkably short of luxury boutique hotel accommodation. But one very determined couple is hoping to inject some life into the city's hotel scene. David Clensy visits Berwick Lodge to find out more

I t was a love affair that began on Valentine's Day, five years ago, when Sarah and Fevzi Arikan decided to have a little look around the "for sale" Berwick Lodge.

You would be forgiven for never having heard of Berwick Lodge. But the Arts and Crafts country house, near Cribbs Causeway, is one of Bristol's hidden gems – an elegant but reclusive building, set in 15-acres of land and feeling a world away from the nearby Mall shopping centre and the busy M5.

The imposing property was built in 1890 as a lavish dowry by General and Mrs Sampson Way for their daughter. But for much of the 20th century it was used as a psychiatric hospital.

There was little to suggest "luxury boutique" accommodation when Sarah and her Turkish husband Fevzi, who live in Clifton, Britsol, set eyes upon it, but the couple have a real vision for the place.

"Fevzi and I were ready for a major life change," says Sarah. "We had been living in Oslo for a few years, where Fevzi's family run a couple of Hard Rock Cafe-style restaurants.

"We liked Norway, but we wanted to come back to my home city in order to bring our children up with an English education."

The idea of setting up a swish hotel came on the spur of the moment after they took a look around Berwick Lodge.

Fevzi is a journalist by trade – he started out working for a TV network in Turkey, and Sarah is used to playing hostess – though it used to be on cruise ships.

"It will be a very new experience for both of us, but I can't wait to get the hotel open so that I can give it a go," she says.

So far, it has taken five years – a tad longer than the predicted two – but everything is being done by the couple themselves, from ordering the furniture to installing the marble fireplaces.

"The place had been completely gutted," Sarah explains. "We were truly starting from scratch. Almost none of the original Arts and Crafts details remained inside the house, apart from the rather grand wood-panelled staircase."

The couple are hoping to complete the project and open the hotel's doors by early summer.

But there's still plenty of work to be done. The restaurant will offer a fusion of Turkish and classic French/English cuisine and, typically ambitious, Sarah says her ultimate aim is to see the establishment win a Michelin Star. But that's a long way off at the moment, as the restaurant is still piled high with furniture, waiting to be taken out of the scores of cardboard boxes in which it was transported by ship from Turkey to the docks at Avonmouth.

"We've become familiar faces down at the docks, as we've had tonnes of stuff brought in by ship – all the furniture has been made for us in Turkey, and we've had dozens of marble statues made in China for the 15 acres of gardens."

The theme of the hotel is to be "ancient civilisations" – hence the Greco-Roman style statuary.

Inside, each bedroom will be given a different ancient civilisation theme, whether it's hinting at a Roman Empire villa or an ancient Turkish harem, guests will be whisked back in time from the moment they arrive.

"We wanted to create something completely different from any other hotel in Bristol," Sarah says. "We're trying to give each room a sense of individuality. We've spent the last five years trailing around all the reclamation yards. Each time we spotted something interesting, we would snap it up and then try to work out where it could go.

"Fevzi has done a wonderful job incorporating things into the building in such a way that they look as if they've always been there. There's a glorious stained glass Tiffany-style skylight, for example, which we have had fitted into the ceiling over the landing, and you would swear it was built with the rest of the house more than a century ago."

One of the couple's more elaborate purchases was a pulpit, which had been taken from a redundant church.

"Fevzi spotted it and said 'we'll have that', but I couldn't imagine what he was going to do with it.

"In the end he had it incorporated into the foot of a purpose-built bed. It's the biggest bed you've ever seen in your life. We even had to have the mattress specially made. But it gives the room a real character all of its own."

All of the bedrooms have lavish ensuite bathrooms, which Fevzi has painstakingly hand-tiled with elaborate mosaics.

"We've incorporated our logo into each mosaic," Sarah explains. "It's an English rose entwined with a tulip – which is the national flower of Turkey. All rather fitting under the circumstances."

You can keep track of Sarah and Fevzi's progress on their website, at www.berwicklodge.co.uk