PREMIER INN has revealed plans to open a £14million hotel in a seaside town.
The UK’s largest hotel chain is set to to transform an “underutilised” area near to several tourist attractions.
The investment by Whitbread, the company which owns the Premier Inn brand, has been welcomed by residents and businesses in Norfolk.
The site earmarked for development is in Southend Road, Hunstanton.
Premier Inn has been discussions to create the 108-bedroom hotel “for years”.
Planning permission will now have to be gained before the development can take place, which would be built near Seagate (East) Car Park, the council said.
Simon Ring, deputy leader of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council, described the move as a “vote of confidence” in the future of the town.
He said it followed years of discussions between the local authority and the firm.
“This is huge news for Hunstanton,” Ring told the BBC.
“The sheer fact the UK’s largest hotel chain wants to invest in Hunstanton is a vote of confidence in the resort’s future, placing us alongside Norfolk’s other big visitor destinations, and this investment and new facility will hopefully act as a catalyst for further money.”
Whitbread acquisitions manager Paul Smith said the new hotel would provide “visitors with the quality, value and reliability they expect from the UK’s leading hotel brand”.
Premier Inn currently operates nearly 850 hotels in the UK.