Hotel restaurant to make way for rooms expansion

A city centre hotel's empty restaurant will be demolished to make way for more rooms.

Plans by hotel chain Premier Inn to knock down the former Bluebrick and replace it with a new restaurant and 23 extra rooms have been approved by City of Wolverhampton Council.

The three-storey extension to the Broad Gauge Way hotel would include a 94-cover restaurant and bar and increase the total number of rooms to 132.

The pub and restaurant was one of 100 venues next to Premier Inn hotels shut down by hospitality firm Whitbread last year, as part of closures and planned conversions into extra accommodation.

The five-storey hotel sits next to Wolverhampton railway station and the neighbouring listed former Low Level station - now a banqueting hall and wedding venue.

Premier Inn had identified a "considerable demand for additional budget hotel accommodation", according to a statement included with the application.

It stated the "block will be acceptable in terms of location, scale, and design, and the changes will not negatively impact amenity".

The reconfiguration of the site would "secure its economic future", the statement continued, adding: "This re-purposing ensures the long-term use and viability of the site."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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