Progress is being made to bring a riverside hotel in Reading back into use.
The former Crowne Plaza Hotel at Caversham Bridge is in the process of being converted into a Village Hotel.
Crowne Plaza closed the hotel at the junction of Richfield Avenue and Caversham Road last December.
This prompted speculation about the future of the site, as plans have been floated to transform it into homes, a care home, or even an electric vehicle charging hub.
Then, in January, it was announced that the hotel had been acquired by the Village Hotel Club, a collection of 33 leisure destinations across the UK.
The latest news is that a licensing application submitted by Village Hotels for activities until 2am has been approved.
In full, Village Hotels has been given permission to sell alcohol and host entertainment from 7am to 2am each night, and also serve food and other refreshments between 11pm and 2am each night as well.
The licence has been granted by Reading Borough Council after a statutory consultation received no objections.
The consultation closed on Monday, April 7.
The Village Hotel will feature a pub and grill, meetings and events space, a Starbucks coffee shop and state-of-the-art health and wellness facilities.
Gary Davis, CEO of Village Hotel Club, said; “We are delighted to take ownership of our new site in Reading.
“Building on our successful conversion in Bracknell, the acquisition is another example of significant investment in the area and creates an opportunity to bring our unique and differentiated proposition to guests and local audiences alike.”
The Village Hotel Club currently runs hotels in Bracknell and Basingstoke.
The site of the hotel was previously suggested for redevelopment in the council’s Local Plan partial-update process with a number of different options being considered.
These options could have involved a complete redevelopment into a site for housing, or a care home, or would have provided a mix of uses through full or partial redevelopment of the hotel with a restaurant.
However, the acquisition by Village Hotels has put these proposals on hold.
Furthermore, the former Crowne Plaza site no longer features in the pre-submission draft of the Local Plan Partial Update that was published last November.
Revisions to the Local Plan are due to be submitted to the government’s planning inspectorate this month.
The Local Plan will be assessed by the inspector who will determine whether adjustments need to be made to make it legally sound.
