A 20-bed expansion of the Premier Inn at Marsh Mills on the outskirts of Plymouth is being proposed following the closure of the Beefeater restaurant on site earlier this year.

The restaurant operated in excess of ten years and closed along with 200 other Beefeater and Brewers Fayre brands.

Owners Whitbread said rising business rates and National Insurance hikes were to blame.

The company, who also own Premier Inn, announced that it planned to convert all its remaining branded restaurants to an integrated food and beverage offer that was preferred by its hotel guests and would unlock the addition of more highly profitable extension rooms. 

The proposal to Plymouth City Council is for change of use of existing restaurant to hotel use and ancillary guest restaurant, together with external alterations to the building and associated works.

Walsingham Planning Ltd, agents for Premier Inn Hotels, said there was a considerable demand for the provision of additional budget hotel accommodation in this location.

At the same time, the existing hotel restaurant had shown a continued shortfall in demand. 

“The applicant therefore seeks to reconfigure the hotel bedroom and restaurant offer on the site to ensure its success and future viability,” they said.

At ground floor level, the restaurant area would be reconfigured and reduced in size to allow for 11 new hotel bedrooms.

The existing restaurant entrance would  be retained to allow direct access to the guest restaurant area and the hotel entrance retained along with the reception which would serve the proposed guest bedrooms. 

On the first floor, nine new hotel bedrooms would be provided, alongside a store, linen room and plant room. 

External alterations are required to facilitate the conversion including the blocking up, replacement and addition of a number of windows and doors.

A 40-bed hotel was given the go ahead by Plymouth planners on the site in 1995 with an extension of 22 rooms and another two-storey extension later approved.