Works well under way at Former Wessex Hotel Site

Posted by Inland Homes on 21st May 2019 -

Construction is well under way, with positive progress on the underground car park. The first phase of the development by award-winning housebuilder Inland Homes will deliver a 105-room Premier Inn hotel, designed to meet the demand for much-needed tourist accommodation in the coastal resort town.

Enjoying a prominent location on the popular West Cliff Road, the development is situated a stone’s throw from Bournemouth’s iconic cliff top with views of the seafront.  The former Wessex Hotel is an island site, bounded by West Cliff Road, Hahnemann Road and West Hill Road. The new buildings will be up to five storeys in height, with two apartment blocks matching the height of the hotel. The buildings have been designed to complement the character of buildings in Bournemouth and their architectural heritage, with the design including white render facades and feature band detail.

In addition to the new Premier Inn hotel, West Cliff Road will also deliver 88 premium one, two- and three-bedroom apartments for private sale. Finished to a high specification with designer interiors, these homes will also have access to secure underground parking, allowing for large expanses of landscaped green spaces and lawned areas for residents to enjoy.

Vicki Noon, Sales and Marketing Director at Inland Homes, comments: “Inland is proud to be delivering the redevelopment of the former Wessex Hotel, which will form an integral part of the regeneration of Bournemouth. This development has all the attributes that will make it a great place to live, combining high quality homes and a hotel facility within an attractive coastal setting. We are excited for the local residents of Bournemouth to see the next stage of the development progress.”

To get the local community involved in the site progress, children at St Michael’s CofE Primary School, Bournemouth, recently donned their safety gear and joined the construction team on site at West Cliff Road, to learn all about site safety. The Year 3 children were introduced to Ivor Goodsite, the construction industry’s safety mascot, who explained the dangers of construction sites and told the children how exciting it is to work in the industry. They were then taken on a tour around the site putting the safety skills they had just learnt into practice.

Commenting on the visit, Year 3 teacher at St Michael’s CofE Primary School, Amber Ingham said: “My team and I were so impressed with the lengths that the West Cliff Road site team went to in order to accommodate all of the children on our visit. The set up was so engaging and every child had a fantastic time. The children enjoyed learning about Ivor Goodsite, and the event cleverly highlighted the importance of safety in a child friendly setting. The children have been so inspired since the trip, that many of them have expressed how much they would like to be operatives working on a site in the future!”

The Wessex Hotel was originally built in 1891 under the name Hawthorns Hotel, before changing its name at the beginning of the 1960s. The hotel was the regular venue of the Wessex Dance Club for 27 years, and was the home of Bournemouth’s second biggest ballroom, under Bournemouth’s Pavilion Theatre, before its close in 2016.

The West Cliff Road development is conveniently located just a short walk from Bournemouth’s vibrant city centre, offering a host of leisure, entertainment, culture and travel facilities. Benefitting from excellent road connections, the A338/A31 is just a short journey away, with quick links to Dorchester, Salisbury and surrounding areas.