SINCE purchasing the business in July last year, you could say Colleen and Henry Ryman have made a fair few changes.

The City View Motel owners have been adding their "own touches" to each of the 10 units, resulting in a smart new make-over for the accommodation place.

Mr Ryman said the renovations - which cost the pair about $5500 each room - needed to be done.

"We knew at the end of the day it would be of benefit to us - it was one of those things you think we'll keep doing and it becomes an ongoing thing," he said.

"At the end of the day, we're the owners so what we do is to our benefit. For people with leases, there's not so much benefit spending a lot of money on units unless the owners are prepared to help."

The rooms were done one at a time so as not to interrupt with the visitor log book.

Some of the changes include new bathrooms - including installation of ceramic taps and water-efficient shower heads - painted ceilings, new lights, bed heads, new power points, new triple-sheeting bed linen, block-out curtains instead of blinds and replacing the analogue televisions with 32-inch flat screen digital ones.

All the single beds, some up to 10-years-old, were also replaced, as were the pillows.

The renovations were rounded off with the replacement of the companion booklets outlining things to do in Warwick.

"Basically if it wasn't glued to the ground, it got replaced," laughed Mr Ryman.

"It's made a huge difference. We've certainly seen the results and had a lot of good feedback."

The renovations were largely the brainchild of Mrs Ryman, who said she used a number of different strategies to come up with the design.

"We didn't have advice from anyone," she said.

"We worked with what was around. I had seen a few photos of different places and then decided to go with similar colour schemes.

"It also started from the gold bed heads, which we made. So the colour scheme started from gold and then went to brown and it really worked."

The pair received the ultimate compliment from a guest - an interior designer - who asked who carried out the renovations and said they "couldn't have done been better".

Coming from a nursing background, the design and renovation processes were a new thing for Mrs Ryman.

"It was very stressful but so rewarding to see the finished product," she said.

"It's taken about 14 months and the work is still in progress, with bits and pieces still going on , but the bulk of it is done.

"We're always looking at ways of improving things - we like to get feedback from our guests and we listen to that and see what they'd like to see done and we try and carry it out."

Mr Ryman said while much of the big changes had been carried out, there were still minor things to complete.

"Every time you look around there's something else," he said.

"We've got about three door handles to change, from the round handles into the long ones for fire safety," he said.

"We could be here another 10 years and still spend the money. But it's all worth it."

City View Motel is located on Alexandra Dve and opened seven days a week.