Major 344-bedroom Gateshead hotel approved for quayside

Novotel and Ibis have been named as the operators

Plans for a £48m hotel spanning nine storeys at a major quayside development have been approved.

The 344-room hotel will be built at the Baltic Quarter in Gateshead with developers saying more than 100 jobs will be created when it opens.

Plans were redesigned and a new site chosen after nearby residents feared it would be "monstrously overbearing".

Gateshead Council said the "milestone" hotel is an "essential part" of the area's development.

A 12,500-capacity arena, conference centre and set of restaurants, are also expected to be constructed by 2025.

Developers have said more than 75 full-time jobs and a further 40 jobs in the supply chain will be created, after the opening of the hotel, which will be operated by Accor's Novotel and ibis brands.

The hotel had been planned for construction next to the conference centre

Meanwhile, they anticipate about 210,000 visitors will stay at both brands on the site, per year, adding more than £13m to the economy.

The redesigned hotel will be located on the corner of Quarryfield Road and Hawks Road next to a 1,000-space multi-storey car park.

Planning councillors met this week to approve the plans, which have been submitted by Ask:PATRIZIA.

'Landscaped park'

Peter Udall, the council's strategic director, economy, innovation and growth, said he was "delighted" the proposals had been backed.

"With the transformational impact on the visitor economy that these developments will bring, the region will need more accommodation to provide for the increased visitor numbers," he said.

In November, plans for the hotel to be built adjoining The Sage International Conference Centre, received a backlash from nearby residents.

Those living in the Baltic Quays Flats, near the original location, said the original 11-storey building would leave their flats feeling "like a Victorian prison".

It prompted proposals to to relocate the hotel behind the arena and revised plans for "operational and constructional reasons".

The hotel's original proposed location will now become a "landscaped linear park", the council said.