A landmark Whitby hotel will be repainted after owners turned part of its façade pink without permission.

Caedmon House, which forms part of the East Terrace of The Royal Hotel in Whitby, was painted a bright pink in 2025 despite not having the necessary listed building consent.

The hotel will now be repainted in a pale pink colour after North Yorkshire Council and the hotel came to an agreement about a suitable colour which would also protect the history of the Grade II listed building which occupies a prominent position on Whitby’s West Cliff.

The hotel said that it had initially agreed with the council that a listed building enforcement notice would be sufficient.

placeholder image — Caedmon House, Royal Hotel in Whitby

However, officers later confirmed that “an enforcement notice cannot approve a different colour scheme and can only request that the building be re-painted back to its original colour,” according to a submitted plan.

The applicant said that “rather than proceed on this basis, an alternative approach has been agreed, and this involves preparing and submitting a listed building consent application to re-paint the main elevations of the Hotel building, including the main façade of Caedmon House”.

Caedmon House is physically connected and functions as part of The Royal Hotel, but forms part of another Grade II-listing relating to three other properties: Kirby’s Hotel and Numbers 5 and 6 East Parade.

The rendered three-storey “landmark hotel” was built in the 19th century and has a mansard roof, together with an undercroft basement.

Following the original submission, officers conducted several site visits and raised concerns about the harm to the character and appearance of the building from the “iced gem” pink colour.

This week, planners agreed that the amended paint scheme was of “an acceptable standard, which is a suitable paint material and colour choice”.

Planning officers said the revised colour was a softer pale pink mineral paint, which would be more sympathetic to the listed building and conservation area than the brighter shade originally proposed.

“As a result of its specification and softer colouring, it was agreed that the proposed paint scheme for the external masonry is considered to be acceptable to the listed building,” according to a planning report.

The application was approved by North Yorkshire Council, subject to conditions, on Thursday (Sep 10).