COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

A new four-star hotel could be built in Coventry in time for it to take on the City of Culture title in 2021

The city council is set to spend more than £1m preparing land for a developer to build a Hotel Indigo at Friargate.

The land for the hotel sits opposite the council's headquarters - and would be handed over to developer Wylam at a discount to try and kickstart the development.

The hotel would have about 100 bedrooms, along with a fine dining restaurant and themed bars, the council said.

"The fact we can now attract a four-star hotel investment says a lot about how far the city has come. They believe Coventry is the right place for them and that sends an important signal to others." Councillor Jim O'Boyle, Coventry City Council

"The fact we can now attract a four-star hotel investment says a lot about how far the city has come."

City council defends spending £1m to bring in hotel



The Coventry councillor responsible for regeneration has defended plans to spend more than £1m of its own money to clear a site in the city for a new luxury hotel.

Jim O'Boyle said: "It's actually a risk that we don't do this, because we won't have beds available for people who come into the city."

Mr O'Boyle did accept that all investments are a risk, but added: "People have been telling me for years and years and years we've not had a decent hotels in our city centre for 40 or 50 years."

Indigo Hotels have been lined up to build on the Friargate site and the money will be used prepare it for use.

Mr O'Boyle said it was difficult to bring in private investors interested in projects like this.