3:21pm Thursday 11th March 2010
By Ash Bolton
MORE than 200 guests turned up to the official opening of Winchester’s newest hotel.
The £16.5 million Holiday Inn in Telegraph Way, Morn Hill, is the city’s first new hotel for about 20 years.
The four-star hotel, which boasts 141 bedrooms, was opened by the chief executive of Intercontinental Hotel Group Andrew Cosslett, the city’s Mayor, Cllr Dominic Hiscock, owner Alastair Cattrell, and general manager Siobhan Thomasson.
Ms Thomasson said: “We want the hotel to create its own local identity, and that’s why we wanted local people to work here.
“It’s fantastic news for Winchester as we’ll be encouraging all our guests to visit the city and surrounding countryside.
“We expect to draw visitors from all around the world due to our close proximity to London and several major motorways.”
Spread over five acres, the hotel also has its own recycling plant which creates clean water that’s then released back on to the Hampshire countryside.
The hotel has created 90 new, fulland part-time jobs.
Its opening ends one of the longest planning sagas in recent Winchester history. Planning permission for a hotel on the site — next to the Intech science centre — was originally granted in 1987 but never activated.
For years much of the site was a car scrapyard, widely reckoned to have been the worst eyesore in the area.
For more details call 01962 670700, or log on to www.hiwinchester.co.uk.
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