York hotel unveils £15m expansion plan: 107 new rooms, 45 jobs, 160-seat restaurant

The owner of the Grand Hotel & Spa, formerly the Cedar Court Grand, has bought a neighbouring empty office block, which it plans to turn into an extension of its historic Grade II listed hotel in Station Rise.

Roman House, in Rougier Street, which has been vacant since insurance giant Aviva moved out in 2010, has been bought for an undisclosed sum by Splendid Hospitality Group, less then a year after the company acquired the Grand Hotel from Cedar Court Group.

Plans have now been submitted to City of York Council for a two-year renovation project, which also includes upgrading rooms in the existing hotel, converting the former offices block into a new "wing" creating 107 "executive suites", and creating a 160-seater restaurant with outdoor terrace and a valet parking area with space for up to 15 vehicles.

Maria Florou outside Roman House in Rougier Street

Plans have now been submitted to City of York Council for a two-year renovation project, which also includes upgrading rooms in the existing hotel, converting the former offices block into a new "wing" creating 107 "executive suites", and creating a 160-seater restaurant with outdoor terrace and a valet parking area with space for up to 15 vehicles.

The move will double the number of five-star rooms in York, from 107 to 214, generating an additional £1.7 million of annual visitor expenditure for the local economy, according to Splendid's planning agents.

As well as directly creating 30 full time jobs at the hotel and potentially a further 10 to 15 part time jobs, Splendid believes its investment will "indirectly stimulate" the generation of up to 100 further jobs in York, and a further 150 construction jobs during the development work.

Stuart Bailey, chief executive of Splendid Hospitality Group, said: "This is an exciting period for The Grand and for York.

"The hotel is already acknowledged as being one of the finest in the region but, following this major investment, it will be amongst the finest in the country, attracting more visitors from further afield.

An image from the planning application. The building marked red is Roman House.

"We look forward to working alongside City of York Council, English Heritage and other partner organisations to ensure that disruption is kept to a minimum and the changes we are making enhance this already stunning building.

"As a company, Splendid Hospitality Group is extremely proud to be established within one of the UK’s greatest cities."

Splendid Hospitality Group, which also own Express by Holiday Inn in Malton Road, and will open the 101-bedroom Indigo hotel in Walmgate this summer, says it hopes to start work on the Grand's extension before the end of the year, subject to receiving planning permission.

The former rail HQ was turned into a hotel in 2010 and changed hands last year

Maria Florou, general manager of The Grand Hotel, said: "The Grand Hotel & Spa has been a great success story for the city of York but now we are entering a new, even more exciting chapter.

"This is extremely good news for the local area as the new look hotel will have wider appeal, bringing more people to this fantastic city.

"Of course, a larger hotel will require more staff to look after more guests and we are hopeful that many of these will be recruited from the locality."

The planning application has been supported by English Heritage and welcomed by tourism agency Visit York.

Kate McMullen, pictured above, head of Visit York said: "This is good news for our tourism sector. These plans would double the rooms we’re able to offer in York for customers seeking a five star hotel experience.

"We’re confident this will prove extremely popular with visitors and in turn will result in increased revenue for our visitor attractions, shops and restaurants."

Ms Florou on a roof terrace that will be turned into a restaurant

Splendid's plans follow the publication of a hotel strategy for York last October. The independent report, commissioned by the City of York Council as part of its ambition to double the value of tourism to £1 billion by 2023, called for more “high quality” accommodation in York, stating the need to increase visitor spend rather than simply increase the volume of visitors.

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The Grand Hotel opened as a hotel in May 2010 after being developed by the Cedar Court Group.

The building was formerly home to British Rail's headquarters, and was built between 1900 and 1906 to designs by H Field and W Bell for the North Eastern Railway Company.

Roman House was sold to Splendid Hospitality Group by York developer Skelwith Group, who had planned to turn it into apartments, before abandoning its proposals.