Planning approval is being sought in principle (21/00970/A) to turn the Trevelyan Hotel in Douglas into flats.

Last year the hotel on Queen’s Promenade had been on the market for £1.98 million, as its owner wanted to retire.

The facade of the hotel would be maintained, while the open core of the building would be demolished to maximise space for 20 apartments.

The hotel currently has 67 guest bedrooms.

Little of the building’s exterior will therefore be changed under the plans, although there would be a more modern rear facade and an accommodation for basement parking.

An accompanying planning statement described the traditional hotel’s shared bathrooms as being ’no longer appropriate in modern hotel design, particularly given [the] well documented virus spread seen around the world’.

It added: ’The existing tourism use of the Trevelyan has been affected by the current Covid pandemic, although this style of hotel, without en-suite bedrooms, has made the hotel less popular than more modern, newly built or refurbished hotels that offer a variety of facilities for the modern traveller or visitor.’

Planning permission had previously been approved for similar plans and much of Queen’s Promenade is now made up of flats where once there were hotels.

Another large hotel, which is currently on the market is the Savoy on Castlemona Terrace.

It’s up for sale for £1.84m.

Little of the building’s exterior will therefore be changed under the plans, although there would be a more modern rear facade and an accommodation for basement parking.