Portsmouth's old Royal Marines Museum to become 'luxury' five-star hotel after site is sold

Keys to the historic building, on Eastney seafront, are expected to be handed over this afternoon as part of the agreement which has taken months to thrash out.

Hoteliers Grand Hotel Excelsior International Ltd have purchased the site for an undisclosed figure, with the sale process expected to be completed later this month.

The deal is the last piece in the puzzle in a long-winded saga to off-load the ageing military barracks after it was closed by the National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) in 2017.

It now means the heritage chiefs at the NMRN are in a position to take the next step forward in building a new, state-of-the-art museum facility at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard to honour the illustrious history of the Commandos.

Professor Dominic Tweddle, director general of the NMRN, hailed the deal as a fantastic achievement and said he was excited about the future.

Speaking exclusively to The News, Prof Tweddle added: ‘There’s a great sense of relief because it has taken a long time. Clearly Covid hasn’t helped, affecting almost every stage of the process.

‘But I’m glad we have finally got there. It was one of my biggest worries during lockdown that we wouldn’t be able to...we were sitting there biting our nails trying to do our best to get the deal through.’

News of the deal has been welcomed by civic chiefs in Portsmouth, who insisted a new five-star hotel would help boost the city’s prospects and reputation.

Gerald Vernon-Jackson, leader of Portsmouth City Council, said: ‘It will be good to finally get a five-star hotel in the city – we’ve been trying to do this for years and years.

‘When we had the America’s Cup event here, people who were wanting to stay in four or five-star hotels were going to Southampton and Winchester – none of them stayed here because we didn’t have one.

‘So this is great news for the city and is another step towards having the story of the Royal Marines brought to life again ‘

New owners Grand Hotel Excelsior International said it would transform the Eastney building into a ‘luxury’ hotel while preserving the site’s ‘historic attributes, appeal and timeless décor’.

And the chain also confirmed the Yomper statue would remain by the new hotel’s entrance, finally ending speculation about its future.

Spokeswoman Helen Hubbard added: ‘The property will remain an important part of the community and serve the public through hosting weddings, conferences, and gala events. It will bring economic benefit to the area by encouraging visitors and offering employment opportunities.’

The former museum dates back to 1865 when it was built as officers’ quarters and mess, and was used as the Royal Marines Museum from 1972 until 2017

SEE ALSO: Crushing blow deal to Marines museum as £3.9m bid fails – again

Explaining the reasoning behind its closure, Prof Tweddle said: ‘The decision to close the building at Eastney was not an easy one. It is clearly something that is very close to the heart of the Royal Marines and the local community.

‘However, the age of the building meant that it simply wasn’t a safe environment in which to store our historic collections leaving them at risk of damage or even ruin.

‘In addition the space, whilst beautiful, would have been extremely difficult to configure modern museum displays and for visitors to move around easily. The cost to have overcome all of those issues would have been extraordinary.’

The museum’s extensive collection has been safely transferred to a new, £2m hi-tech collection centre in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, which the NMRN aims to open next year.

Prof Tweddle insisted the NMRN was committed to continuing with a £9m project to build a new hi-tech Royal Marines Museum, and said the sale of the Eastney site – combined with other fundraisers – had drummed up about half of the cash needed.

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