A licence has been granted enabling alcohol to be served to hotel guests staying at Keswick’s new Premier Inn 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Whitbread Group’s application to Allerdale Borough Council was approved, with conditions, following a meeting of the authority’s licensing panel.
Tim Shield, solicitor for the applicant, said there had been no representation at all from police regarding the licensing of the new 71-bedroom Premier Inn with restaurant and bar, which is being built at High Hill, Keswick.
But the licensing panel was told that Allerdale’s environmental health officer had requested that a condition be included which prevents the placing of glass bottles into receptacles outside the premises between the hours of 8pm and 8am, and not before 10am on Sundays, to minimise the disturbance to nearby properties, which Whitbread was happy to agree.
The application allows for the sale of alcohol to non-residents from 10am to 12.30am and then for residents 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including sales to guests for drinks to be taken to bedrooms.
A licence was also granted for late night refreshment, which is the provision of food after 11pm, and for the ability to show films on demand into the bedrooms of guests.
Conditions attached also include signs to be placed on exits around the building encouraging patrons to be quiet until they leave the area and to respect the rights of people living nearby to a peaceful night.
Whitbread Group has about 780 hotels in its portfolio aimed at leisure, family customers and business customers, councillors were told.
For those that were concerned about potential noise nuisance, Mr Shield said the operators offer what is known as a “good night guarantee”.
“That means if you stay at a Premier Inn and you have any concerns about noise then they will, with a no quibble money back guarantee, repay you the cost of the overnight stay,” said Mr Shield.
He said it was therefore of “paramount importance” to them that their customers were happy as the nearest residents to their restaurant, bar facility and the whole operation were their own customers.
“We fit in well with neighbourhoods. We are all over the country, we are in some of the biggest cities, we are in London, we are in Birmingham and Manchester, but equally we tourist areas, such as what I would say Keswick is, so we are well experienced dealing with different types of customer and area,” said Mr Shield.
