Butlins to splash £20m on third hotel

The holiday company is deciding the final designs for the 20m-plus boost to its holiday resort.

The hotel will boast 200 rooms and provide about a hundred new jobs. It could open in mid-2012 subject to planning approval from Arun District Council.

Jeremy Pardey, Butlins' resort director in Bognor, said: "The new hotel is going to have a mix of accommodation from self-catering up to the equivalent of three-star rooms.

"It is going to make us more diverse as a business. It will be another symbol of a town on the up.

"The more guests we bring here the more everyone in Bognor benefits."

Sandra Daniells, Bognor's town mayor, said: "This can only be good news. It shows Butlins have a lot of confidence and belief in the future of the town.

"The more people who come to Bognor the better it has to be for the town.

"It is up to us on the town council to help to make the town inviting for them. That is something we are looking at to tailor the events to what would attract visitors as well as residents."

Approval to invest in a third hotel has been given by Butlins' directors because of the success of the Shoreline and Ocean hotels.

The Ocean Hotel with its 200 bedrooms and 112 staff members was opened a year ago and has been extremely popular.

It is experiencing its eight latest weeks of being sold out with 796 guests each night. The enthusiasm for its rooms has been outstanding.

"The Ocean Hotel has been possibly the most successful individual investment Butlins has ever made," said Mr Pardey.

"It has met all our expectations and then some. It has brought people to Butlins who would not consider coming to Butlins before. They understand hotels better than they do chalets and are more comfortable staying in one.

"They love staying there. The feedback has been excellent. The guest satisfaction for the hotel is 96 per cent and for its spa treatments is 96.5 per cent.

"It's added another string to our bow and has added to Bognor as well. It's a landmark in the town.

"It's a beautiful building and it makes a statement not just for Butlins but also for Bognor."

The third, as yet unnamed, hotel will replace a temporary car park on the holiday resort's western boundary next to the foot and cycle paths along the High Street.

That area used to contain some of the original chalets from the site's opening in July 1960.

Mr Pardey stated the new hotel, if it was approved, would not increase the amount of accommodation on site.

The intention was to update the stock of rooms by taking away more old

chalets.

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