‘Jersey needs new hotels to replace ageing bed stock’

Roberto Lora, director of the Savoy at Rouge Bouillon, this week announced that a planning application had been submitted to raze the hotel of over 50 years and replace it with 56 maisonettes and town houses.

He said his company was ‘fighting a losing battle to stay relevant’ and that the hotel would need significant investment to bring it up to modern standards.

Plans were also recently submitted to convert the Revere and Stafford Hotels in Kensington Place, the Mayfair on St Saviour’s Road and the adjacent Apollo into hundreds of units of affordable housing.

Mr Lora, whose hotel remains open, said: ‘The development of the hotel site, and others, underlines a far greater issue facing Jersey and the lack of new hotel accommodation sites appropriately situated within the Island.

‘Jersey needs new, modern hotels built urgently to replace its ageing bed stock, which, in some cases, isn’t fit for purpose and reflects poorly on our wonderful Island.

‘We feel Jersey would be best served attracting proven operators to build new venues in prime locations around Jersey.

‘Our property is fighting a losing battle to stay relevant to the changing tourism market and would be ideal for new ecological family housing built for Islanders wanting a quality residence that sets a new bar with its eco-credentials.’

Mr Lora added that there was clearly a market for new hotels in Jersey and cited how Premier Inn had announced they intended to build a second hotel in Bath Street within a year of the opening of their first one.

Prior to the pandemic, Le Masurier, the developer behind the Bath Street project, revealed that the chain had even expressed interest in building a third St Helier venue.

Plans for the new building on the Savoy site include 13 five-bedroom, five four-bedroom, 34 two-bedroom and four one-bedroom maisonettes and town houses.

PF+A Architecture say the flats have been designed so they are easily adaptable and capable of accommodating growing families.

A gym, courtyard and roof terrace, complete with a 25-metre pool, are among some of the elements featured.

Plans include what the architecture firm has described as ‘one of the largest’ solar panel arrays in Jersey – aimed at providing power to 112 charging stations for electric bikes and a fleet of electric EVie cars for residents.

Hamish Hargreaves, studio lead for the architecture firm, said: ‘The development is aimed at creating communities and the flats are easily adaptable so that if someone has a baby or third child they do not have to move into the countryside. It is about bringing families back into St Helier.’

The Savoy was originally a Victorian-era house built in 1840. It was converted into a hotel in 1968 and taken over by the Lora family in 1993.

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