Hastings Premier Inn: New 84-bedroom hotel begins to take shape, with 25 jobs set to be created

Scaffolding has been removed from the building at the site of the former Cornwallis Street car park.

The tower crane has also come down.

The company said it hopes to welcome its first guests in December.

Construction on the new 84-bedroom Premier Inn started last year.

Diggers and machinery arrived in August 2024 preparing the ground to make way for construction.

Jordan Tomkinson, project manager at Whitbread, said: “We are aiming to welcome our first guests in December.

“This hotel is a particularly exciting development for us - our first Premier Inn by Hastings town centre - and we believe it will deliver long-term benefits to the town.”

He said around 25 new roles at the hotel will be available.

The company said it has completed work for a new crossing on South Terrace approximately 100 metres up the road from the hotel.

The only other external works left to be completed are the car parking and landscaping around the hotel, the firm added.

The Cornwallis Street car park was shut more than two years ago to make way for the construction of the Premier Inn.

In February 2022 Hastings Borough Council approved the scheme to build the new five-storey hotel.

The application was led by the authority, which owns the land.

The proposals, submitted by Whitbread plc in late 2021, attracted opposition from some residents in the area.

Objections included fears the building would lead to a loss of light and privacy for nearby residents in Mann Street, South Terrace and St Andrews Square.

The site of the former Cornwallis Street car park was also sold by the council early in 2024 to make way for the new Premier Inn after the building project’s cost almost doubled.

When first agreed in October 2019, the project was expected to cost around £7m.

But in September 2023 cabinet members backed proposals to increase the project’s capital programme budget to £13.6m.