Warwick Castle puts forward plans for 60-room hotel

The castle said the hotel would encourage more people to spend money in the local area

Warwick Castle has put forward plans for a two-storey hotel with 60 rooms.

The tourist attraction plans to build the hotel on the site of a car park and says it will bring more visitors to the town.

There are also plans to build a restaurant serving the new hotel earmarked for the medieval castle, which is owned by the Merlin Group.

Merlin described the site as "brownfield" land and said buildings would be sensitively designed.

It has started a series of consultation events to show the plans to people living in the Warwick area.

The attraction introduced "Knights Village" lodges within its grounds in 2016 to allow people to stay overnight. It also offers glamping tents to visitors.

It said a hotel was first raised in a masterplan it drew up in 2019 and the site it intended to use was currently a floodlit, asphalt car park.

The venue will look to replace the lost car-parking spaces by creating new ones in an adjacent field and promised to plant more than 1,000 new trees.

It plans to submit a planning application in early 2022.

The castle, built on a site originally established by William the Conqueror, has been run by Merlin since 2007.