Scarborough Seaview Hotel owners cite rising costs for converting hotel into flats

Owners of the Victoria Seaview Hotel on 125 – 129 North Marine Road, Scarborough, have said that a combination of rising costs, changes in the industry, and difficulty “maintaining any financial progression” has led them to convert the hotel into apartments.

Scarborough Council’s Planning and Development Committee voted unanimously in favour of approving the conversion at a meeting on Thursday October 6.

The hotel currently accommodates 32 en-suite rooms that are situated over ground, first, second, third and fourth-floor levels. It offers a traditional bed and breakfast and evening meal format with a commercial kitchen, lounge bar, and dining room facilities.

However, the layout will be converted into 13 self-contained two-bedroom units, with the installation of a lift allowing access from the basement to the fourth-floor level.

A new staircase and a lift are set to be built, both of which will be positioned centrally within the building.

Speaking at the planning meeting, Cllr John Nock said: “The owner has run this [hotel] for some 28 years and has been trying to sell for five years and can’t. If he wants to quit and retire, let it happen.”

He added: “If we don’t, what might he do? He might decide to cut his losses and sell at a discount. If that happens, we could be looking at an application of a very different sort and might be met with one far less favourable than this.”

However, the council’s tourism services stated in a report that the hotel is in a prime tourism location and that it would “detrimental” to reduce the serviced and self-catering offer “by converting prime tourism location properties into permanent self-catering accommodation”.

Sally and Gavin Pearcey, the owners of the hotel, said in a statement submitted alongside the application: “Financially it is now becoming harder to maintain any financial progression as the costs are increasing rapidly and the amount guests are prepared to pay is not going up in relation.

“We keep costs down by Gavin being a fully qualified chef and are regularly working 16-hour days as we cannot afford to employ more staff.”

They added: “This is now having a detrimental impact on our health.”

The conversion was approved subject to conditions including a requirement that a commuted sum of £13,170 is paid by the applicants towards public open space provisions.