A long-established hotel in Morecambe could be demolished to make way for a seven-storey aparthotel.
Plans have been revealed to knock down the Strathmore Hotel on Marine Road East and create self-catering holiday accommodation in its place, in an Art Deco style.
Lancaster City Council received an outline planning application in December 2024 but it was only deemed valid and complete - and therefore made public - earlier this week.
A report submitted with the plans said: "HY Hotels have recently purchased the building.
"In the past HY Hotels have, with their team, successfully redeveloped other hotels and have achieved high-quality results.
"An example of this is at Lytham St Annes, where an existing hotel was sympathetically repaired and restored to create a new apart-hotel of a similar scale to the Strathmore Hotel.
"The existing Strathmore Hotel building is somewhat dilapidated and has been subjected to a series of unsympathetic additions and alterations over the years.
"Several sketch schemes were produced for this proposal to explore various internal layouts and elevation designs.
"The final design represents a thoroughly considered replacement building for the site, which has strong references to local architecture, helping reinforce a sense of place."
Below, a CGI image of how the new aparthotel could look. Credit: HPA Architects
"The proposed development is a well-considered re-development of a site in a prominent position on Morecambe Promenade.
"The design of the scheme takes clear influence from buildings within the local area and will see the delivery of a highly sustainable building."
A heritage statement submitted with the plans said: "The Strathmore Hotel...is a mid 20th century building which lacks special historic interest associated with age or rarity.
"The Strathmore and an adjoining guest house called The Commodore (which later became part of The Strathmore) were completed after World War 2.
"To the western side of the Strathmore, but not adjoined, was the then recently completed Broadway Hydro Hotel (opened 1937) and to the eastern side of the Commodore was the recently completed and adjoined St Winifred’s Hotel.
"The arrival of The Strathmore and The Commodore completed a short terrace row of six hotel/residential properties, which in turn completed the coastal development along Marine Road within the Bare district of Morecambe
"The proposals involve demolition and redevelopment of the Strathmore Hotel with a new seven storey apartment block. The block has been designed to celebrate the Art Deco style that became popular in the inter-war years and best illustrated nearby by the magnfiicent Midland Hotel.
"A matter of further relevance is the recent loss and replacement of the neighbouring Broadway Hotel, which was a building of far greater significance than The Strathmore and which occupied a much more prominent landmark position.
"Its replacement, The Broadway apartment block, has dramatically altered the setting of The Strathmore, being much larger and taller than its predecessor and being built of contrasting modern materials.
"This change in setting reduced the combined visual impact and harmony of The Strathmore row with the neighbouring Broadway Hotel, bringing a dominant new character to this part of Marine Road and setting a potential precedent for new development of similar scale and purpose.
"All this comes at a time when Morecambe’s challenging economic outlook has been buoyed by the planned arrival of the Eden Project on a site adjacent to The Midland Hotel and opposite Morecambe Winter Gardens.
"A promise of major new investment in the ailing resort accompanies these plans, and scheme such as the replacement of The Strathmore Hotel with a well designed apartment block that acknowledges the landmark Art Deco styling of the Midland Hotel would appear entirely within the spirit of this new found optimism.
"The Strathmore is a well know holiday destination that was built for the successful Blackpool hotelier Maud Bourne. Bourne also built the neighbouring Broadway Hotel and nearby Headway Hotel, both completed in the 1930s and of similar appearance to The Strathmore."
During Morecambe's glory years of tourism in 1955, the hotel was bought by Luigi Prada from the well-known local Prada family.
He later bought the Commodore and merged the two hotels. The Prada family sold the business after many successful years, in 1987.
But in recent years, in more challenging times for Morecambe's tourism industry, the Strathmore was at risk of permanent closure.
It reopened in 2021 after its previous owners fell into administration.
Then, until 2024, the hotel was used to house asylum seekers.
Lancaster City Council will make a decision on whether to grant planning permission in due course.
The plans can be seen at planning.lancaster.gov.uk - reference number 24/01313/OUT.
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