A hotel that has felt the full force of the COVID-19 pandemic is asking for permission to be turned into flats, 1 with holiday use.
The Esplanade Hotel on Shanklin Esplanade has submitted an application to the Isle of Wight Council asking to change the hotel into mostly residential accommodation.
Planning documents say the hotel has not had a booking in 2020, due to the fact that it is predominately a dormitory-style hotel, with bunk beds provided in rooms for school bookings.
With COVID restrictions affecting the nation at the moment, it is unlikely schools will be able to go on overnight stays for the foreseeable future, slashing the Esplanade Hotel’s chances of large bookings.
Agents for the application, Phil Salmon Planning, said, the seafront hotel business had been detrimentally impacted from the change in holiday trends and the redevelopment would help address the Island’s housing need.
The owner of the hotel, and the applicant for the development, a Mr Thornton, said the limited or just-viable business that existed before the COVID lockdown will not return.
The application says the building requires significant internal renovation, repair and upgrading to fulfil any future use, as the existing standard is no longer acceptable for modern requirements — which would not be viable for the future of the business.
The hotel could be turned into 1x 4-bed holiday apartment on the ground floor, 2x residential flats and a townhouse to the rear of the building. Balconies would be added to the front of the building on the upper floors.
To view, or comment, on the proposals 20/01648/FUL, you can visit the Isle of Wight Council’s planning portal.
Excellent proposal. The owner has my sympathy, this crisis was unforeseen and has had devastating financial impact.
More jobs lost, more tenants for Housing benefit to keep. Great.
Hasn’t been used for years – deliberately left to run down.
Sorry Covid not to blame for this
This cannot be blamed on the pandemic as this Hotel has not really been operating for a number of years and has gradually been allowed to fall in to disrepair.
It’s such a shame its come to this for the owners I brought a group of school kids here couple of summers ago for a week yes its not the most eye catching hotel but I can say that the food was good and they made you feel very welcome especially to me as a coach driver hope he has success in whatever he chooses to do with it cos they deserve some luck at this awful time
Oh so it can’t be renovated to return to use as a hotel, only for private flats, come on. Another champagne swilling landlord, or doddering old landlord “excellent”, will get it and then do as little as possible in “decoration” and charge ridiculous rents to keep the “entitled” lifestyles going.
Surely an opportunity for a housing association to take it on as 6/8 low cost flats.
It would do so much more to alleviate the Islands genuine housing problem then evicting a working farm at Westridge for houses most can’t afford.
Doesn’t look like its had a penny spent on it for years
… meanwhile there’s at least one growing local schools tour operator regularly searching (via the Chamber of Commerce and other channels) for additional accommodation providers