New £2.5m sister site for Bournemouth’s Connaught Hotel
A hotel adjacent to the Best Western Connaught Hotel in Bournemouth is to get a £2.5m redevelopment, a proposal acknowledged to carry significant tourism benefits for the area.
The Connaught Lodge, formerly the Sun Court Hotel, will be completely re-built into a building containing 15 one-bedroom suites for its neighbouring hotel, as well as 14 residential apartments.
Owner of both the Connaught Hotel and Lodge, David Miller, said he was keen to develop the site, which currently does not offer both service and long-term holiday accommodation. “I’m keen to retain a tourism use but make more rationalised and efficient use of the site while funding the enhancements proposed by the new building,” he said. “The proposed design solution will meet the aims of both residents and visitors.”
Miller will now spend the next 12-18 months demolishing and reconstructing the Connaught Lodge, which has been designed by architects William Lester to reflect the art-deco style synonymous with the traditional buildings in Bournemouth.
Confident of the development’s success in the uncertain economic climate, Miller said: “I anticipate that as a result of this major investment, both revenue generation and occupancy will increase substantially.”
The Connaught Hotel recently appointed a new general manager in the form of Paul Plumley, who had been headhunted by Miller for many years.
