DEMOLITION work on Bournemouth’s “friendliest hotel” has finally begun a year after plans were announced.
Diggers have been drafted in to help tear down the self-described friendliest hotel in town, the Lynden Court Hotel in Durley Road, West Cliff.
Bournemouth-based developer Stonehaven Homes will soon start work on replacing the hotel with a new five-storey apartment block.
It will feature a mixture of 37 one- and two-bedroom apartments for first-time buyers, working professionals and families, according to company director Steve Beales.
He said: “The Stonehaven team are delighted to have secured planning, purchased three properties on Durley Road with construction now started we will deliver much-needed new homes for first time buyers, working professionals and families to the West Cliff area of Bournemouth over the next 18 months.
“We have worked effortlessly over the last two years with planning officers overcoming several concerns with a unilateral approach with the local authority to support the application and provide a positive enhancement to the conservation area of West Cliff.
“With the removal of a dilapidated hotel and two bungalows, all of which [are] approaching the end of their fit for purpose lifespan.
“We will now deliver 37 mixed one- and two-bedroom apartments and assist in the regeneration of the West Cliff area.”
Steve said he expects the apartments to be ready for residents in spring 2025.
The site has been fenced off while the demolition work is being carried out.
Documents to do with the planning application described the existing hotel as being “dated” in appearance thanks to the “mansard roof and flat roof extensions” making it “unattractive”.
Meanwhile the two bungalows have been described as “very clearly an underuse of land in a highly sustainable location”.
When it was open, Lynden Court Hotel was known for providing budget accommodations for students, backpackers, contractors, business travellers, as well as catering for stag and hen do parties.
BCP Council gave Stonehaven Homes the green light to demolish the hotel and bungalows and replace them with apartments in September.
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