All the fuss and the fury over plans to redevelop the vacant site next to Brighton railway station is over whether there should be a Sainsbury's supermarket there.

But a much more significant feature of the new draft planning brief is a new hotel.

It is significant because it would have 400 bedrooms and could be the largest one in town. Being right next to the station, it would be a hotel mainly for train rather than car travellers and would have less parking than normal.

The hotel would be three to four star and would also have a conference suite so could be self-contained for small or medium-sized conventions. It is not simply a gleam in a planner's eye since the main consortium interested in developing the site has also indicated it would like to provide one.

Hotels are a prime sign of a resort's vitality. Brighton became pre-eminent in Victorian times partly because of the Grand and Metropole. Its revival after a fallow period at the start of last century was mainly led by the Royal Albion and Royal York.

When the bucket and spade trade began to dry up in the Sixties, it was the Metropole which took the initiative with Brighton's highly successful foray into the conference and exhibition market. The Ramada Renaissance Hotel (now the Thistle) signified another revival for Brighton between the piers in the Nineties.

Eastbourne likewise has plenty of hotels along the seafront. By contrast it is hard to find many hotels in Hastings while Worthing has largely become a seaside residential town where flats rather than hotels dominate the front.

Not only do hotels generate millions of pounds in tourism and conferences. They also provide hundreds of jobs, both directly and indirectly. They also help make the seafront look special.

There has been an interesting trend in the last few years towards budget hotels off the seafront, like the new Premier Lodge in North Street. Another budget hotel is being created from old offices in Preston Road.

It is the advent of this hotel which makes it all the more surprising that councillors earlier this month refused permission for another hotel in the same road. This has now gone to appeal and the council's case did not appear to be strong.

The building concerned was an office block, empty since 1987. There seems little chance it could ever be used for offices again since demands are vastly different from when it was built in the Sixties. As a hotel it could cater for exactly the kind of market Brighton now needs.

There is a case for more hotels in this part of Brighton as it is right on the A23 and not too far from Preston Park station.

I can also see the case for hotels, or even motels, close to the bypass. Oddly Brighton does not have any at the moment which is most unusual for a resort town. The most obvious location would be the old Patcham Court Farm site, stranded on the south side of the Downland dual carriageway.

Another good location for a hotel would be in Jubilee Street, next to the new library and within earshot of the new Dome and Corn Exchange. I hope one of the consortia bidding for the site will have included this in their plans.

The proposed station hotel and its cousins would set a new tourism trend for Brighton in a new millennium.

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