THE global hotel chain that is to build a new development on the former Barbican Centre site has revealed its plans.

Golden Tulip UK, the North Yorkshire-based hotel operating company, has acquired part of the 7.5-hectare site to build a four-star hotel.

Details of the deal were revealed after City of York Council sealed its £6.385 million sale of the land to Barbican Venture (York) Ltd.

The developers sub-sold parts of the land to other companies, including the Kent Street car park to Indominto, which will lease it to Qpark.

The Golden Tulip York will be the group's third such hotel, and the second to open in the last year.

Planning permission has already been granted for the hotel and it is scheduled to open for business in the autumn of next year.

A walkway will link the hotel with the Barbican Centre's refurbished 1,500-seater auditorium, which has been sold by the council to entertainment operator Absolute Leisure.

Golden Tulip UK plans to have 25 hotels by 2009. The firm is part of the Golden Tulip Hospitality Group, one of the 20 largest hotel organisations in the world.

The parent company has head offices in Switzerland and Holland and runs a chain of 630 hotels worldwide, with 58,000 rooms in 49 countries.

Peter Roberts, chief executive, said: "Golden Tulip hotels are individual, contemporary four-star hotels which provide a home-from-home experience for business and leisure travellers alike.

"York has a global reputation as a centre for tourism, more than four million visitors a year, who spend some £300 million. In addition, the hotel is well-placed for the city's expanding business sector as well as the university and York Science Park."

The opening of the hotel in York marks an expansion drive in the UK by the group, which plans to open another four-star hotel in Bournemouth and four three-star inns over the next 18 months.