The Seymour Group have successfully applied to Environment and Public Services for a change of use of the building into 48 one and two-bedroom flats and bedsits for those without housing qualifications.News of the closure of the hotel has been greeted by some of the tourists who return several times a year to enjoy the friendly service there with great disappointment.Group managing director David Seymour said that the decision to close the hotel had been emotionally very difficult to make in view of their relationship with the staff and the building, but very easy on a business level.Some long-term staff are taking the opportunity to retire while others have been offered posts in the group’s other hotels.A much smaller hotel was first built on the site in 1931 and acquired in 1947 by David Seymour’s grandfather, George Frederick Seymour.The new flats, which will be rented out, are scheduled to be completed by next May.
