Bath hoteliers fear new budget property will damage business

HOTELIERS and guesthouse owners in Bath are opposing plans for another budget hotel in the city because they fear it could put them out of business.

London-based developer Hetton Properties wants to transform Ministry of Defence offices near the city centre into a hotel when the lease expires next year.

But Anthony O'Flaherty, chairman of the Bath Independent Guesthouses Association, argues that Bath does not need another budget hotel. A 66-bedroom Travelodge recently opened at the old Royal York Hotel building.

"Budget hotels are more suited to business people than tourists, and this is a tourist city. We have a very high quality of B&B business in Bath and motels are not good for the city's image," said O'Flaherty.

"The major chains get away with murder anyway when planners look at the relative number of parking spaces required."

George Hall, chairman of the Bath Hotels and Restaurants Association, said, "Their price structures make them look attractive but, if they are centrally situated, they threaten the smaller guesthouses. There is not the demand to carry this number of rooms."