Coldeast Mansion aims to build 18 more 'apart-hotel' rooms

Coldeast Mansion was reopened last October after a multimillion-pound restoration.

Now, the owners of the 25,000sq ft Victorian building want to add an extra 18 aparthotel rooms to the building, which also has a restaurant and is used as a wedding venue.

They have applied to Fareham Borough Council to expand their hotel to 50 rooms with an annexe containing four duplex apartments.

The venue has short or long-term stay self-catering accommodation.

Planning documents state the additional rooms are economically necessary to generate further revenue to ‘defray the fixed costs of operating the mansion and its grounds’.

The design of the extension is described as a ‘lightweight pavilion style’ building which creates a ‘mews style courtyard’ to the side of the mansion.

The extension will be hidden when facing the front of the mansion, council documents state the proposal would not negatively impact the appearance of the locally listed building.

Originally formed as part of the Coldeast Farm estate, the mansion was owned by the Hornby family in the early 1840s.

In 1924 Hampshire County Council bought Coldeast to use as a hospital for people with learning difficulties.

The hospital closed in 1996 and the land surrounding the mansion was sold off for housing.

The restoration of the mansion was secured in 2013 following a planning application which included consent for the use as a hotel with function rooms and facilities.

The redevelopment was completed in 2017 until the developer went into administration in 2019.

The mansion was then purchased by Fern Property Ltd and reopened in autumn 2021 following a £2m refurbishment.

Business partners Jason Parker and Daniel Byrne now own the mansion. Mr Parker runs Becketts in Southsea with his wife Soraya and the second branch of Becketts has opened at Coldeast.

The restaurant offers breakfast, lunch and evening indoor and outdoor dining, and it also has a business lounge and plans for an events space.

Last month it also hosted open-air cinema over three evenings.