A hotel and upmarket B&B in Falmouth have both applied to change what they are, one to become self-contained holiday apartments and the other to become a home.
Nigel Sillis and his partner Sharon Retson who bought the Chelsea House Hotel in Falmouth in 2016 have applied to convert it into four holiday apartments. The owners of the Highcliffe Hotel want to turn it into a home for the owners to live in.
A planning application to also convert the Chelsea House Hotel in Emslie Road, Falmouth into a home was recently approved but now the owners say they are considering their future options.
They want to convert the hotel into apartments, which they can let out to tourists and, as the apartments would be self-contained, the occupants would then be able to get their own meals, or to eat out at other facilities in town.
This would then allow the owners to manage the apartments without needing to provide food for the tourists on a daily basis.
The agents for the Highcliffe contemporary B&B in Melvill Road say the property has been on the market since May 2023 and is still on the market at present for £1,500,000.
The property has been listed with three different estate agents and during the course of that time, the applicants have been unable to sell it as an ongoing business.
“Notwithstanding the fact that the hotel has been on the market for a considerable period of time, in excess of a year, no buyers for the property have come forward,” say the agents.
“As a result, the applicants has submitted this application, which once approved, will allow the applicants to continue to live in the property and use it as a dwellinghouse.”
Both applications will be considered at the next meeting of Falmouth Town Council’s planning committee on Monday, July 1.
The town council is recommending that the Highcliffe Hotel be recommended for approval while they will discuss the Chelsea House Hotel application.
A final decision on both will be made by Cornwall Council.
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