Huge new hotel swoops to solve airport bed shortage

Plans have been submitted for a 168-bedroom four-star hotel just off the main approach road from the A8 Glasgow Road to the airport.

The hotel would include a series of conferencing venues from "intimate syndicate rooms" to a huge banqueting hall with space for up to 700 delegates.

The plans have been lodged by Glasgow-based Vinanian Developments, which has not yet confirmed if it has a brand lined up to operate the hotel.

News of the plans - the latest in a string of new hotels proposed near to the airport - has been welcomed by airport operator BAA, which says the area is "under-served" by hotel rooms.

In a design statement by architects Young and Gault, the firm said: "The proposed development will offer high-quality accommodation with 168 bedrooms, an exciting new restaurant, leisure facilities and extensive conference facilities, thus responding to the increasing demand for quality bedrooms and business services close to Edinburgh Airport.

"It has been highlighted that this type of development is needed now in the area and can only be a benefit both in providing an excellent hotel product to feed a growing requirement while injecting investment into the local community."

The site is flanked by the Port Royal Golf Range to the north and open green space owned by the Royal Highland Society to the south.

Young and Gault says that development in the area around the site has always been restricted because of the close proximity of the expanding airport.

It said: "This has led to the current situation, where the airport is attracting more and more passengers to the area which, combined with the extensive investment proposed by Edinburgh City Council in improving transport links, means there is a chronic shortage of bed space at the airport."

The only four-star hotel nearby is the Hilton Hotel complex directly opposite, a development that was commissioned by BAA before Hilton snapped up the management contract.

As well as serving the airport, it is anticipated that the new hotel would also prove popular for visitors to the Royal Bank of Scotland headquarters, the offices at Edinburgh Park and the Royal Highland Society Showground.

The new hotel would be five-storeys tall and developers say it would be a "flagship" scheme appropriate to the Capital's status as "a thriving centre for international commerce, culture and tourism".

It would be one of a number of hotels being planned in and around the airport grounds.

Theakston Estates is planning a 150-bedroom four-star hotel and a 200-bed three-star hotel on Almond Avenue.

Two hotels have recently been developed at Edinburgh Park.

BAA confirmed that the site of the proposed hotel by Vinanian Developments is not part of the land needed for any future airport expansion.

A BAA spokesman said: "We recognise that west Edinburgh is under-served by hotel rooms. Any increase in capacity is to be welcomed."