Hotel to check in for £5m revamp

Once the refit of the Sackville Hotel, Kingsway, Hove, is completed in 18 months time, it will be back to its former glory and may even be given five-star status.

The new owners of the hotel, who have formed the company, Sackville Hotel Ltd, have been granted permission to completely refurbish the building.

It will reopen in the spring of 2007. All the rooms will be changed and there will be a swimming pool complex, including a gym, sauna and spa.

The hotel was built in 1904 and in its heyday in the Fifties and Sixties, stars such as Douglas Fairbanks Junior, Margaret Rutherford and politician Manny Shinwell were regular guests.

In recent years, Brighton and Hove City Council, has used rooms in the hotel as temporary accommodation for the homeless and those on social security.

Eight people on social security who have been staying at the hotel are being rehoused.

Twenty staff are searching for other jobs in the hotel industry.

A spokesman for the council said: "There are eight people on social security in the hotel and they are being transferred throughout the week to other suitable accommodation in the city. All of them will have been offered accommodation before Friday."

When the hotel reopens, the famous turquoise exterior will be painted cream to fit in with the Regency style of the area.

The 47-room hotel will have fewer rooms when completed as the third floor is being converted into residential units.

There will be a six-storey rear extension, which will form five residential units and will also house the swimming pool complex.

Carole Tilbrook, manager of the hotel, said: "All rooms will be refurbished and restored to their former glory. We will not be taking any more people on social security.

"We will not be having a party or anything like that.

"The trouble is that the hotel has had too many owners over the years and it has suffered as a result. The new owners see the potential."

Friday, September 30, 2005