New Hilton Hotel in Cov is set to be finished by 2022
WORK on a new Hilton hotel outside the Ricoh Arena is hoped to be finished by late 2022.
Rugby club Wasps have been given the green light to build the 150-bed hotel, which will on land at Car Park C, off Jimmy Hill Way.
The hotel, which will be operated by Hampton by Hilton, is hoped to “satisfy demand” for visitors attending the Ricoh for sports and music events, exhibitions and conferences - although it won’t be ready in time for guests visiting the city for City of Culture next year.
In planning submissions, applicant WPS Trading Ltd - a firm owned by Wasps owner Derek Richardson - said existing capacity at the Doubletree by Hilton hotel inside the Ricoh was limited and led to a “significant number” of lost bookings.
A spokesman for Wasps Group said: “We have long held the view that having an additional hotel operating directly with the venue will enable Ricoh Arena to better cater for the millions of people it attracts every year via conferences, exhibitions, music concerts and sporting events.
“We are delighted that the planning application has been approved and our focus now moves on to the construction of the hotel, which we hope to conclude by late 2022.”
Coventry City Council planners granted approval for the six-storey hotel on Friday (October 16).
The approved scheme will include a ground floor ‘hub’ area including a reception, bar, breakfast rooms and a
How the hotel outside the Ricoh could look fitness suite. It also includes a car park with 48 spaces.
Four bedroom types will be included: a ‘king guestroom’ with a king-size bed; a ‘queen family guestroom’ with a double bed and a sofa bed; a ‘superking flex guestroom’ with two single beds which can join to form a superking size bed; and a ‘twin guestroom’ of two large single beds.
Ten ‘accessible’ rooms will also be provided.
The hotel will be directly linked to the Ricoh by the existing pedestrian footbridge.
A hotel has long been mooted on the site but took a step forward in July 2018 after Coventry City Council’s cabinet granted Wasps Holdings Limited (WHL) a new long lease over Car Park C to facilitate a 150-bed hotel.
A second application remains live for another hotel - a 78-bed Travelodge -outside the Ricoh Arena which would incorporate a Mcdonald’s drive-thru on the current car brokers yard on Judds Lane.
Applicant Cryfield Investments Ltd had initial plans turned down last year but returned with a second bid in May.
In determining Wasps’ hotel bid, council planning officer Anne Lynch said there had been objections suggesting the site is being treated differently to the second scheme because of Wasps’ involvement.
Ms Lynch said Wasps’ bid is “clearly more acceptable in planning terms” as Highways had objected to Cryfield Investment’s Mcdonald’s drive-thru element due to concerns for pedestrian safety particularly during major events at the Ricoh.