Popular Wolds gastro pub seeks backing for '˜mini boutique hotel'

An award-winning gastro pub is seeking planning permission for a 'mini boutique hotel' in a Yorkshire Wolds village.
Ben and Lindsey Cox at the Star Inn, SanctonBen and Lindsey Cox at the Star Inn, Sancton
Ben and Lindsey Cox at the Star Inn, Sancton

Ben and Lindsey Cox who run the Star Inn, at Sancton, have submitted plans to East Riding Council for five letting rooms on land they own at the back of the pub and for two semi-detached holiday cottages fronting High Street.

Chef-patron Mr Cox said getting a taxi was virtually impossible and customers were crying out for overnight accommodation.The development could cost anything between £500,000 and £700,000.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He said: “We have been playing round with the plans and getting to this stage for five years.

“I get phone calls every day, asking: ‘Do you do accomodation?

“We are always investing and improving the place, the facilities and the equipment. This is just taking it to the next level.

“Two years ago we bought a house in the village and it had this large back garden which backed onto the pub, which is where we are going to be building.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“It is going to look like an old barn that has been modernised.

“It is going to be full of plush luxury, it will be really comfy with all the modern fittings that everyone wants.

“There will be two large apartments in the loft conversion, with great views over the village church and the Wolds.”

The new three-bedroomed holiday cottages would be “very traditional and in keeping with the village”, he added.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

To make way for the new buildings, two outbuildings will be demolished.

Mr Cox added: “A lot of people come from Cave Castle here for tea, but they are having to stay there because there is no accommodation anywhere else.

“What they want is the dining experience, finished off with a really good night’s kip.”

Supporting documentation with the planning application says there is “very little” accommodation in the Yorkshire Wolds, with a total of just 155 bedspaces and just over 200 touring pitches.

It says this is a “key constraint” to translating “tourism interest into visitor stays.”

The Star Inn is one of just a handful of East Yorkshire restaurants in the Good Food Guide.