A proposals for a four-storey, 45 bedroom hotel and restaurant/cafe in Cliftonville has been submitted to Thanet council.
Long Eaton Development Ltd has applied to create the hotel at the empty plot of the former Beano café and amusement arcade which were gutted in a blaze in 2009.
Planning documents say the venture would create “a boost to local employment, the redevelopment of a vacant brownfield site in a sustainable location, and the delivery of a mixed-use scheme.”
A café is planned for the ground floor and basement level of the proposed building. The hotel rooms will be on the rear of the ground floor as well as on the first, second and third floors. There will also be a ‘green’ roof and the design is pledged to “incorporate a sympathetic architectural design which takes cues from the detailing of surrounding buildings.”
The developer states: “The development proposed can be expected to generate up to 12 full time jobs contributing to the availability of employment in the district.”
Limited parking is proposed with the developer saying future occupants of the development would be reliant on walking, cycling, and public transport.
A decision on the plan is yet to be made. Find the documents on the Thanet council planning page, reference F/TH/20/0873
Other hotel plans for Margate include the 124 bedroom, 5-storey ‘lifestyle’ hotel proposed by Dreamland’s operating company, Margate Estates.
Approved in February 2019, the six storey hotel will also contain a gymnasium, meeting rooms, a shop or café with frontage onto Marine Terrace, a restaurant and bar at the ground floor and a rooftop bar.
Under the proposals Ziggy’s rooftop bar and an adjoining empty building will be flattened. It will also use the space at ‘Godden’s Gap’ where the amusement arcade stood. The four-storey Mr G’s arcade burnt to the ground in 2003. Some 120 firefighters tackle the blaze at its height.
It is not clear whether the pandemic, which has caused the closure of Dreamland rides and cancellation of most events for 2020, will impact the scheme.
In May 2018 approval was also given for a seven-storey, 117 bed hotel in Cliftonville.
Guy Hollaway Architects submitted the application for the multi-coloured hotel on the corner of Ethelbert Crescent.
The building, proposed for Hosers Corner, will have a unique multi-colour metal façade, which the architects say “ reflects the famous Margate deck chair and plays on the regeneration of tourism and culture that is being seen throughout this eclectic seaside town.”
The hotel is expected to cater to the rise of artists moving into the town attracted by the rejuvenation of Dreamland, Turner Contemporary and the new Carl Freedman gallery and Tracey Emin studios at the former Thanet Press building in Union Crescent.
The scheme is yet to be implemented.
Certainly a way forward for that site we need more hotel space in Margate. Fully supportive of the idea for walking cycling and public transport use.
It would be great to have something in that location rather than a gaping hole, but a hotel? Who is going to walk or cycle to a hotel with suitcase etc??!! Far better to make it into flats as ideal for people who want to be near shops and on a bus route. Far better local homes than continually building on what few green areas we have left in Thanet.
I agree, the idea is sadly ludicrous.
Why is it ludicrous? We recently stayed at the Walpole Bay Hotel for two nights and had an overnight shoulder bag, something that can easily be carried or put in the back of a taxi, most people staying would probably do the same. Build it and they will come! I am all for this scheme and have officially supported it on the planning portal.
Yes an excellent sounding idea.
The developer quotes
“Limited parking is proposed with the developer saying future occupants of the development would be reliant on walking, cycling, and public transport”
I can just imagine hotel residents from all over the country (or the world), walking and cycling to the hotel. What a load of rubbish, just trying to portray it as an environmentally friendly plan, to help win approval.
Unfortunately TDC are so incompetent, they will probably agree to it.
Would be better used as much needed residential plots.
I know some people in Thanet are still stuck in the 1980s when everyone owned their own motorcar and drove everywhere but a lot of people now acknowledge the Climate Crisis and seek to travel by train and get a taxi or bus to and from the station.
Then I guess no-one has told all the hoards of motorists that are flocking to coastal areas and beauty spots this year!
I personally don’t drive and never have done, but I still can’t see a huge hotel in Northdown Road (of all places) working without ample car parking.
Yes a train and bus with the luggage and then explore area by foot. Like when abroad 🙂
There are plenty (too many) people who fly abroad or even within Britain . If people are only coming to Margate for a few days, a rucksack and holdall would be enough.