Construction of new Newbury hotel gets underway

Work begins next to rival chain

NEWBURY has finally waved goodbye to a town centre car park as work to construct a new hotel starts – without any planned car parking spaces.

Work to build the new Premier Inn, next to the Travelodge on the corner of London Road and Park Way, was well under way this week.

Scheduled for completion this year, the 100-bedroom, part three-, part five-storey budget hotel will bring a second Premier Inn to Newbury.

This was after Premier Inn took over the former Hilton hotel, in Pinchington Lane last March, followed by a £10m refurbishment.

A third Premier Inn is in Midgham.

Premier Inn has said its new hotel in Park Way will support Newbury’s business and leisure economy.

This was supported in February last year by West Berkshire councillor Anthony Pick (Con, St John’s), who pointed out at a council meeting that Newbury had problems retaining businesses.

At the same meeting, councillor Jeff Beck said: “The situation is that Parkway car park is already at times full.

“Please don’t go away with the idea that parking isn’t a problem. It is a problem.”

Meanwhile, members of neighbouring bstFitness, who previously had access to the public car park site, have seen the club’s facilities reduced to a smaller car park, for club members’ use only.