Right now, work to turn a historic Paignton seafront pub into a multi-million pound hotel is due to start in about a month. The hotel giant Whitbread hopes to open a 33 bedroom, £2 million new Premier Inn by early summer.

The low budget hotel company has been given permission for the conversion and new two story extension to the existing building, but it currently is still applying for minor changes to the scheme. Thus, the company will have to wait for permission for these changes to be made.

This new hotel would create 13 new full time jobs. The new Premier Inn will follow in the footsteps of the runaway success of the group’s Torquay hotel. The former Belgrave Hotel has been such as success that the company is now expanding the premises.

Planning permission has now been granted for a three story 60 bedroom extension to the Torquay seafront hotel. The Inn on the Quay actually dates all the way back to the Napoleonic Wars in parts, and rather than knock it down, it has been renovated and extended.

The new building will house the reception and main office, as well as some of the rooms. The latest planning change will see one fewer bedroom, but the playroom will be retained. Whitbread has agreed to contribute £30,000 towards transport improvements in the area, including improved footpaths.

The senior project and program manager for Whitebred Hotels and Restaurants, Chris Foad, said that Paignton is an ideal location for Premier Inn. Their site on Tanners Road is a great spot and is just a short walk from the seafront.