Seaside town's array of multi-million pound hotels

Artist’s impressions of the St Chad’s hotel site in Blackpool

A seaside town can expect further investment in new hotels as multi-million-pound projects earmarked for the resort begin to make progress.

Blackpool Council approved plans for a five-storey hotel next to the Winter Gardens conference centre this week with developers wanting to start "as soon as possible".

It comes just weeks after the opening of the Holiday Inn on Talbot Road, while several other projects are also in the pipeline.

These include plans to restore the former post office on Abingdon Street after the project received £8m of government Levelling Up funding last year.

Artist’s impressions of the Indigo Hotel on the site of the former post office

An in-depth survey of the building is currently under way before it is hoped a deal can be done for the purchase of the Grade II listed property.

Developer Ashall Projects has planning permission to convert the building into a 144-room boutique style hotel which would be part of the Hotel Indigo brand.

The council will provide a grant towards the scheme using Levelling Up funds.

Council planners also approved an application in April by the Singapore-based Fragrance Group for a 143-bedroom hotel on the site of the former St Chad’s Hotel on the Promenade.

The site has already been cleared and the developer said it hoped to begin work on the £30m project soon.

Outline planning permission is also in place for development at the Blackpool Central site, which includes a 200-room hotel.

This week saw the council approve plans for a  five-storey hotel next to the Winter Gardens

The council is out to tender to appoint a contractor to demolish the former Bonny Street police station and law courts on the land paving the way for redevelopment.

The £34m Holiday Inn, funded by the council with borrowing to be repaid through hotel revenue, opened on 1 May and is already said to be enjoying a high level of demand.

However, uncertainty continues to surround the future of The Sands Hotel on Central Promenade.

Its developers received a £10m loan from the council but legal wrangles have delayed the opening.

The Showtown Museum, which opened in March, occupies part of the building.

Over the last five years, the resort has also seen the Pleasure Beach invest in The Boulevard Hotel which opened in 2019, a £7m Premier Inn opened in Talbot Square in 2021 and an extension of the Hampton-by-Hilton Hotel last year.