UK: Planning permission has been submitted to the Lake District National Park to convert the Grey Walls Hotel in Windermere into a 17-unit aparthotel.
Grey Walls Hotel, located on Elleray Road, is a two-storey “dilapidated” building that requires a “total refurbishment” to offer 17 short-term holiday lets with “associated external alternations”.
Previous attempts to regenerate the site have been unsuccessful due to a number of factors. A marketing report provided by Everard Cole said: “The property is just off the town centre and lacks the draw to pull customers out of the town as there are enough outlets in town to satisfy demand throughout the year. The refurbishment costs were too high also to create what would be required to operate as a public house. The final issue for keeping as a pub is the staffing issues in the area and lack of skilled chefs and front-of-house managers which are the face of the business.”
Graham Anthony Associates submitted the most recent planning proposal on behalf of applicant Cradel Haus.
It read: “The aim of the project is to regenerate a property that has been empty for approaching five years and deliver a high-quality business that will attract tourism to the area. Financial modelling suggests that once complete, the development could generate over half a million pounds in additional revenue per annum for the local community and the physical project itself would generate over a million pounds worth of direct private investment.
“There is a range of businesses in the local area, ranging from bed and breakfasts, guesthouse uses, through inns to large hotel. This development simply seeks to diversity the nature of accommodation available to ensure that the market affords tourists with the range of opportunities necessary to ensure Windermere remains competitive.”
Cradel Haus was established in 2022 and began work on its first project the same year. In November 2023, Fair Rigg opened in Bowness-on-Windermere offering four holiday apartments.
The application is currently being considered by Lake District National Park.
