Liverpool's FIRST 5 Star Hotel?
DEVELOPERS behind one of Liverpool's most prestigious waterfront developments last night vowed to bring the first major five- star hotel to the city.
Lead Asset Strategies has applied for permission for the £130m New World Square scheme and the application is expected to go before planning councillors this month (DEC).
The development includes a rooftop restaurant and public viewing area to allow visitors to get a spectacular view of Liverpool's World Heritage Site.
And LAS insists the development’s hotel will built to five-star specifications.
Company chairman Raj Basu said: “From the outset we have viewed this site as a five-star location, and we have designed the hotel to a five-star specification with some exceptional features and qualities.
“The design integrates with the Pier Head canal link. The canal will run through an illuminated culvert under the hotel, and passing boats can be viewed from a glazed wall in the basement health spa.
“With the extraordinary revival of Liverpool's commercial quarter, and its growing reputation as an exciting and cosmopolitan visitor destination, operators’ perceptions of the city are changing.
“The 2008 Capital of Culture award and the recent World Heritage Site designation have opened people's eyes to what Liverpool has to offer. A great international city like Liverpool needs and deserves the highest quality tourism facilities.”
The company hopes to announce a five-star operator if planning consent for the scheme is granted.
The mixed-use Princes Dock project will connect the dock to the Pier Head and wider waterfront.
As well as an international hotel and business centre and a 25-storey residential tower with 120 apartments, and a u-shaped building with 264 apartments, there will also be commercial space for restaurants and shops, and a new illuminated piazza and performance area.
The observatory would be decked out with a visual history of the city’s waterfront identifying key landmarks.
Developers hope to go on site in spring next year with completion due for late 2008.
Jack Stopforth, chief executive of Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, said: “It is vital for the city's continuing success that we strengthen our credentials in the international corporate hospitality market by attracting and securing a five star operator in Liverpool.
“There is currently an excellent boutique hotel offer; however, it is a matter of scale and economics. If Liverpool wants to attract global companies, who will automatically demand the highest quality accommodation, then a five-star hotel is a must.”
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