Plans to add spa treatment rooms, a roof terrace ‘pod’ and renovate the former Sands hotel in Margate have been approved.
Sands closed in June after being sold for £2.8million to newly incorporated company NO. 16 MARGATE LTD which is registered in London. The company name has since been changed to NO 42 Margate Ltd.
The company is owned three brothers who run GuestHouse. The independent hospitality group is owned by Tristan, James and Tom Guest. The trio started with a Georgian townhouse called No.15 in Bath, a venue in York followed, and then Brighton with a property which is due to open in 2023.
The £2,828,400 freehold purchase for the 20-bed hotel and restaurant in Marine Drive/High Street was made on December 17, according to Land Registry documents.
Plans for the hotel site include removing two of the hotel rooms to be replaced by five spa treatment rooms. The ice cream parlour will be taken out so the bar/restaurant can be extended and a new lobby introduced from the High Street.
There will be changes to the High Street ‘shopfront’ and new awnings on the upper ground floor.
A roof terrace with new rooftop enclosures and a rooflight for an outdoor bar and toilets is also included in the plans.
Planning documents say: “The idea behind the Upper Ground Floor and Roof Terrace is to provide high quality amenity space for the users of the hotel and at the same time enhance and preserve the appearance of the conservation area.
“The introduction of new traditional awnings at Marine Drive seeks to replicate similar awnings that historical evidence show were in this location from the late 1890s. These will provide invaluable cover from the elements to allow the terrace to be used all year round, activating Marine Drive.”
The building was constructed in the 1870s/1880s and is arranged over 5 storeys including a basement level. It was originally The Terrace Hotel and remained as such for a large of its early life.
Throughout the 20th century the building has had a variety of uses and was derelict up to its purchase at auction in 2011.
Former co-owner Nick Conington bought the Sands Hotel site in 2011 through company SouthEast Retail – which listed both Mr Conington and partner John Adams as directors – receiving a £500,000 grant from the government’s Expansion East Kent scheme to help with the project.
Initially the site was going to be used for luxury flats but after discovering the property had originally been a hotel at the end of the 19th century, the plans changed to bring it back to its former use.
The closure in June resulted in around 30 redundancies.
Permission for the new plans, which had undergone some amendments, was granted by Thanet council this week. The new hotel, No 42 Margate, is expected to open in Spring 2023.
