Quy Mill Hotel and Spa launches second attempt to expand and improve its viability

A hotel has launched a second bid to expand, warning that it is not financially viable as it is.

Quy Mill Hotel and Spa, in Church Road, Stow-cum-Quy, currently has 51 guest bedrooms, but wants to build an additional 44.

Previous proposals to over double the size of the hotel to create a total of 110 guest rooms were rejected by South Cambridgeshire District Council last year.

The latest application aims to address councillors’ earlier concerns that the expansion would “harm the special significance and setting” of the listed water mill building.

Some of the existing buildings within the grounds of the four-star hotel would be demolished under the plans, but the 19th-century watermill would be kept.

The hotel gym would be extended and a new “glass box” built on to the side of the existing restaurant, within the watermill, to provide more space for diners.

The application said the design of the “glass box” would enable the extension to reflect the surrounding trees and vegetation, so it would appear to be “disappearing and not interfering with the image of the grade II-listed mill building”.

As well as “rejuvenating” the hotel, the business said the expansion would lead to other benefits, with 10 new accessible rooms, as well as a biodiversity net gain thanks to a minimum of 100 new trees being planted.

Without the expansion, the hotel said it will be put at “significant risk of loss-making”.

In its planning documents submitted to the council, the business repeated its earlier warnings about the size of the current hotel, saying: “The operation of the hotel is severely compromised by the physical constraints of its size and the arrangement of buildings, both internally and externally.

“The number of rooms at 51 is not sufficient to run a financially viable hotel business.

“Moreover the ad hoc nature of the accommodation layout creates challenges in the day to day operation and management.

“The hotel has a high ratio between staff and guests (number of bedrooms) in comparison to other competitor hotels – the hotel is simply not generating sufficient funds to support the business.

“The applicant has been proactive in finding a solution to ensure a sustainable long-term future for this local business.

“To enable the hotel to compete in the local market changes have to be made to increase the number of rooms, enhance facilities, and improve the layout.

“This will increase the contribution the hotel makes to the pool of tourism accommodation available in Greater Cambridgeshire, support tourism and the visitor economy, and ensure the retention and creation of new jobs at the hotel for the long term.”

Councillors will determine whether the revised planning application is approved.