A HISTORIC hotel is set to reach new heights with ambitious plans for a new rooftop bar, terrace and penthouses.

The Queens Hotel on Brighton seafront could be set to grow an extra storey after plans were submitted for eight new rooftop double bedroom suites.

Hotel bosses said they “urgently” needed to expand to “capitalise on Brighton’s continued popularity” as a holiday destination.

The King’s Road site has been home to a hotel since 1825 with parts of the grade II listed building designed by leading Regency architect Amon Henry Wilds.

The designs have been drawn up by Brighton-based architects Conran and Partners who have previously worked on Embassy Court, Saltdean Lido and Sussex Heights

As well as the addition of a sixth storey creating new rooms, a bar and a “spectacular roof terrace” open to guests and the general public, the new designs include improvements around the ground floor entrance including a sea view café terrace, vehicle drop-off area and “extensive remodelling” of reception and front-of-house dining areas.

The makeover of the 94-bedroom hotel, which has a 95 per cent occupancy level and welcomed 65,000 guests last year, will also include new stairs and lift to the proposed rooftop extension and the replacement of rooftop Victorian railings with new, matching railings and a clear glass balustrade on the hotel’s south-facing elevation.

The application to Brighton and Hove City Council has been submitted on behalf of the Lowy Group, who first leased the hotel in 2002 and purchased the freehold in 2014, and who also own the King’s Hotel, Umi Brighton and Best Western Brighton Hotel.

The firm said the plans were the latest in a range of investments in the historic building under their management including three complete exterior redecorations and two complete bedroom refurbishment programmes.

In addition to its existing 50 members of staff, the new extension would create two additional full time housekeepers, two administrative positions and at least four jobs at the rooftop bar.

The hotel firm also hopes the revamp of its entrance will end a problem of unlawful parking, turning the area into a drop off and pick up area for two taxis to stop.

Lee Davies, director at Conran and Partners’ Brighton studio, said the new rooms would give hotel guests spectacular views taking in the Palace Pier, English Channel and the South Downs.

He added: “The Queens Hotel is a prominent Brighton landmark.

"We have sought to create an additional storey to the hotel which is highly legible, clearly contemporary in appearance and would form a distinctive addition to the existing building.

"At the same time, the design responds sensitively to its context, referencing and complementing the hotel itself as well as the adjacent late Georgian and early Victorian architecture."