The Queen's Hotel in Southsea is to be changed with the bulk of the 70 rooms turned into flats.

A planning application submitted by the owners includes turning the top three floors of the three-star hotel into 30 apartments, with the first three floors converted into a 'boutique' of 22 bedrooms, and the hotel's roof and stonework restored.

The basement with a fitness suite would be retained, the ballrooms on the ground floor extended, and the bedrooms will all be on the first floor.

It is also planned to demolish the empty neighbouring buildings facing Osborne Road, next to the casino, and to build 30 apartments in their place, with either a doctor's surgery or shops on the ground floor.

The distinctive six-floor building was built in 1861 and has been a hotel since the late 19th century.

The top floor has been inaccessible to guests since the 1960s and a survey in 2005 concluded the hotel was worth around £2m, compared to an estimated £5m bill to refurbish it.

Alastair Grant, a partner with property firm Vail Williams which is representing the owners, said the refurbishment could be finished in 18 months.

He said: 'It's just not realistic to see this lovely old lady retained for future generations as it is. The key to any old building is to keep it in use, otherwise it dies.'

Dr Roger James of The Portsmouth Society said provided the hotel's appearance did not change, it would not object to the plans.

Author Ron Brown, 76, of Green Road, Stubbington, said: 'A lot of old hotels have been lost over the years, but the Queen's has gone through all that. This is just a sign of the times.'

The proposed scaling back of The Queen's comes just weeks after The News revealed that a four-star hotel was being planned for the site of the old postal sorting office in Surrey Street.

HOTEL'S DRAMATIC HISTORY

The Queen's Hotel has had its fair share of glamour and glitz.

Twiggy, the most iconic model of the Swinging Sixties, stayed there while performing in The Boyfriend at the Kings Theatre, directed by fellow guest Ken Russell.

Thespian Oliver Reed also slept there, as have footballing icon George Best, Carry-On star Barbara Windsor, Laurel and Hardy, and Rowan Atkinson, who filmed an episode of Mr Bean there in the 1990s.

But it has also had brushes with calamity. Early on Sunday, December 8, 1901, when 30 guests and 17 members of staff were there, a fatal fire caught hold.

It started near the kitchen, but rapidly spread, killing two chambermaids trapped by falling masonry. The hotel was rebuilt in 1903.

Portsmouth historian John Goodall, 65, of Twyford Avenue, North End, recalled how his late friend Denis Mort helped save the building from the Luftwaffe, aged 16.

He said: 'In 1941 in the Blitz, his job was to run around on the roof with buckets of sand, putting out incendiary devices. They were made of phosphorous, and you couldn't put them out with water.

'Anything which is going to ensure the hotel's future is to be welcomed.'

FLATS PLANS

The hotel is owned by Mannings Hotels, run by the Manning family, which also owns Clarence Pier.

Although it is in a conservation area, it is not a listed building.
It was first known as Southsea House, and was a large home owned by Sir John and Lady Morris.

It was destroyed in a fire in 1901, but rebuilt in 1903.

Around 30 full and 50 part-time staff work at the hotel, but developers said if the plans go ahead they could maintain staffing levels.

The apartments in the hotel will be for sale, but could be bought and then rented out.

The apartments in the new building will include 18 affordable apartments, split between rental and purchase.