Insider Media Limited

The University of Nottingham has submitted plans for its proposed 202-room hotel to Nottingham City Council. It may also enter into what it is calling a “partnership agreement” with Alliance Boots. The university said that Boots requires about 11,000 room nights a year in Nottingham.

The new 100,000 sq ft hotel, situated next to the East Midlands Conference Centre (EMCC), will also have parking space for 130 cars.

In a feasibility report on the new hotel, property advisers Christie & Co said: “We do not consider that [the hotel] will compete directly with any Nottingham Hotels. Its primary competitors are likely to include conference hotels and venues as well as other academic-based conferences centres offering accommodation.

"Currently, universities in the provincial UK offering high quality conference facilities and onsite hotel-standard accommodation are limited, with only Loughborough and Warwick Universities offering guestrooms of a hotel standard to compliment their conference facilities.”

Christie & Co said it is concerned that the EMCC currently appears to be curtailed in its ability to grow and enhance its revenue and value potential due to the lack of on-site accommodation.

The report continued: “For a venue such as this, with an excellent reputation, and established client base, located in an attractive, central location, we consider that the addition of a hotel would provide a more cohesive approach to its offering and enhance its marketing approach.”

The hotel has the provisional title the 'University Park Hotel' and is being designed by RHWL Architects.