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Whitbread, the owner of hotel chain Premier Inn , has submitted plans to bring a new Premier Inn hotel and family restaurant to Willen Lake in Milton Keynes.
The proposals are for a new 120 bedroom Premier Inn hotel together with a 211 cover ‘Cookhouse and Pub’ restaurant overlooking the lake. Whitbread is bringing forward the proposal in conjunction with The Parks Trust with a view to the development adding to the mix of attractions and “enhancing the range of activities on the lake”.
The new hotel would be a latest-generation Premier Inn with a bespoke design to reflect the site’s setting next to the lake. The four-storey hotel will feature a number of family bedrooms to cater for people visiting Milton Keynes for Willen Lake, Gulliver’s World or other local attractions.
The site of the proposed hotel and restaurant is off Brickhill Street immediately to the south of the Unify office building and directly to the north of the Willen Lake North Bay Pay and Display car park. The proposed hotel building would be a four storey building.
The planning application is anticipated to go before Milton Keynes Council’s Development Control Committee for a decision.
If approved, Whitbread said it would expect to review its current position on the existing Willen Lake hotel, where the Premier Inn (‘Premier Inn Milton Keynes East Willen Lake’) is alongside a Greene King pub and restaurant.
It added that part of the reason for the submitted proposals for the new hotel is to enable Premier Inn to “modernise” its accommodation at the location, including being able to offer more family rooms, as well as to have a Whitbread brand food and beverage offer.
Jamie Baker, development manager at Whitbread, said: “These plans are an investment into Willen Lake and offer a real boost to the aspiration to make the Lake a vibrant, successful centrepiece of Milton Keynes’ mix of leisure locations.
“With a brand new hotel and a quality Cookhouse and Pub restaurant – plus the 70-80 new Whitbread jobs created by the plans – we can contribute to building Milton Keynes’ leisure economy and making Willen Lake an even more enjoyable place to visit.”
Ben Allot, head of property at The Parks Trust, added: “Willen Lake is managed by The Parks Trust and we have been investing in new facilities in order to improve the visitor experience at the lake.
