Developers have pledged to get started ‘as soon as possible’ after plans to build a five-storey hotel next to the Winter Gardens in Blackpool were approved unanimously.
Harry Spawton, of Gerald Eve LLP, who addressed the committee on behalf of applicants C1 Capital Partners Ltd and Mottrom Estates, said four previous sets of plans for a hotel on the site had not been delivered. But he said the current applicant “has secured a global hotel brand for this site” and intended to deliver “a landmark destination” for the site “potentially facilitating the return of much-needed party political conferences in Blackpool.
It is proposed to operate the hotel under two brands with 108 suites aimed at business guests looking for longer stays, and 158 rooms aimed at the traditional holiday market. Ian White, from hoteliers group StayBlackpool, told the meeting there were concerns the new hotel could adversely impact trade of existing hotels near the Winter Gardens. He said he would have preferred the smaller 160-room scheme to have gone ahead, which could then have been extended if demand was found for more rooms.