96-room luxury hotel gets green light with former Royal Marines Museum set to be converted
Plans to convert the former Royal Marines Museum into a 96-bedroom luxury hotel have been approved by Portsmouth City Council.
The scheme will see the historic building’s exterior left untouched, with internal alterations creating hotel rooms, a function hall, dining area and lounge. Rear amenity buildings are set to house a gym, treatment rooms and a swimming pool.
The development includes 118 car parking spaces – 10 of them with EV charging points – and nine spaces for motorcycles, with additional parking located near the building’s western entrance.
However, the project has drawn criticism from local residents. Penelope Reed, chair of Marine Gate Management Company Southsea Ltd, described it as “overdevelopment of the Eastney seafront,” warning it threatened the “tranquillity of this city oasis.”
Reed also argued that alternative uses had been overlooked. “Many local people and former Royal Marines have considered that with appropriate publicity the city council could have supported and positively campaigned for the property to be a home for veteran marines,” she said.
Concerns grew after the site was quietly placed back on the market by the applicant – The Grand Hotel Excelsior International Limited – with estate agent Savills advertising it as a potential location not just for a hotel, but also a school, care home, or residential development.
“The uncertainty of ownership makes it difficult for neighbours to know how much longer the site will remain in its present undeveloped state and how much exposure this gives to squatters and trespassers,” Reed added.
During the planning committee, a council officer said that if the scheme was approved, any future proposal for alternative uses would still require separate consent, and that if this particular project did not go ahead, any new plans would be considered on their individual merits.
Councillor Lee Hunt supported the proposal, highlighting Portsmouth’s ambitions as a tourist destination. “Anyone who’s anyone will want to stay at this place,” he said, noting that the projected 84 per cent occupancy rate was “higher than many hotels.” He added, “We are wanting to be a European weekend destination break, we need the hotels to support that view.”