Ambitions have been revealed to restore the historic Royal Clifton Hotel back to its “original splendour” after falling into disrepair in recent years.
The hotel was bought by Britannia Hotel Group in May 2021, which says it is investing in the building after it was “disused and neglected” and hit hard by the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 120 bedroom Grade II Listed venue dates back to the Victorian era in 1853-54.
Britannia has just submitted a planning application to add 10 new en-suite bedrooms to the ground floor as part of the renovation.
In the plans, drawn up by Prestwich Design Group, said: “The Royal Clifton hotel traded under Best Western, and it was owned by D’Urberville Hotel since 2015, fallen under administration came to the market in November 2019 and the sale process generated a high level of interest with a wide range of buyers: from local developers to national hotel operators; it was purchased on the 13th May 2021 by Britannia Hotels Group.
“The hotel during the previous ownership has witnessed the turmoil generated by the coronavirus pandemic and the consequent lack of investment necessary for the constant maintenance of a building of this size and architectural relevance.
“Disused and neglected, for several years, it has gradually started falling into disrepair.
“When the Royal Clifton hotel was purchased by Britannia Hotel Group, an assessment was carried out to start conducting a campaign of investment to help restoring the hotel and gradually bring the building to its original splendour.
“Since the coronavirus pandemic started the world almost stopped, hotels are one of those businesses which have paid the worst price.
“As a result of this, we are now entering a new era, and hotels need to adapt again to the circumstances and to the new social and economic requirements; this will imply changes.
“An opportunity was identified to transform internal areas of the building, predominantly large rooms and ancillary rooms, disused and abandoned or utilised as storage to be regenerated, without having to compromise with the external appearance of the building, to be transformed into 10 guest accommodations, well designed according to the correct scale and proportions including en-suite for each one of them; and to be accessible by disabled and well connected to the main communal areas via large corridors.
“It is felt that the proposed internal layout do not subtract to the existing layout, in fact makes a positive contribution by transforming abandoned areas like function rooms, very popular during the previous decades for political or private gathering and sadly fallen in disuse, into rooms that will be once again be utilised and built with good standards to help maintain the functional requirements of the building and help its preservation.
“The Royal Clifton Hotel is now progressively overseeing a conspicuous campaign of investments, following the recent purchase by the Britannia Hotels Group.”
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