The building had been gutted by fire and has been sitting derelict until planning permission was granted, allowing the multi-million pound development to go ahead.

Work has finished ahead of schedule on The Apartments at The Lodge, which can host up to 48 people and opened this month in time to welcome guests ahead of the Open Championship. The remaining work on 15 en-suite rooms is scheduled for completion in spring 2012.

John George, General Manager of Prince's, venue of the 1932 Open Championship, said: 'This is much more than just a place for visiting golfers to rest their heads after a day on the links. There will be a spike bar, dining facilities, and we'll also be able to cater for all manner of corporate events during Open week and all year round.'

In addition, The Lodge at Prince's, which is expected to receive a high quality grading, will have a snooker room and gymnasium, not to mention glorious views over Pegwell Bay.

Sandra Matthews-Marsh, Chief Executive of Visit Kent, said: 'This is a wonderful addition that will help attract even more golfers to the county. The fact that The Lodge at Prince's will be able to house up to 80 golfers will be of significant benefit to golf courses on the coast and inland, and enhance the already excellent variety of quality graded hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs in the region.'

Kent offers golfers a choice of more than 100 courses to play. Royal St George's is part of Kent?s 'Regal Golf Coast', which includes Royal Cinque Ports (venue of The Open Championship in 1909 and 1920), Prince's (the Open venue in 1932), Littlestone (a Final Qualifying course for this year's Open) and North Foreland.

Complementing this quintet are London Golf Club (a European Tour Destination and home of the 2009 European Open and where work will soon start on a five-star golf and spa hotel resort) plus Chart Hills (designed by Sir Nick Faldo and ranked 82nd in Golf World Magazine?s Top 100 Courses in the UK and Ireland).

Visit Kent (www.visitkent.co.uk ) has recently announced a new partnership with Golfbreaks.com (Europe's largest golf travel company) and Shepherd Neame (the renowned Kent-based brewer, pub andhotel operator) to promote an array of carefully selected golf breaks and special-offer packages featuring many of the county's best courses, including Royal St George's and Prince's.

For more information about golf in Kent visit www.visitkent.co.uk/golf.

For further details on Prince's Golf Club visit

href="http://www.princesgolfclub.co.uk" target="_blank">www.princesgolfclub.co.uk