Whitbread submits plans for £12m Carlisle Premier Inn
The hospitality firm is hoping for planning permission from Cumberland Council to build a five-storey, 104-key hotel off an arterial route into the city centre and its railway station.
Regular design partner Allison Pike Partnership has led on the 42,200 sq ft hotel’s design, which is predicted to generate £1.1m GVA a year.
Cumberland Council has sought a development partner alongside CBRE to regenerate the site since 2021, with Whitbread securing a conditional freehold agreement to acquire the 0.4-acre plot in May 2025.
A hotel has stood on the West Walls site in some form since 1881, when the Grand Central Hotel was built on the plot, later becoming the Central Plaza Hotel, according to planner Turley.
Credit: via planning documents
The Central Plaza Hotel was granted grade two-listed status in 1994, then closed in 2003 before falling into disrepair.
A fire in July 2011 further deteriorated the site, which began to attract anti-social behaviour, leading to the decision to demolish it in 2020.
The site’s northern boundary is defined by grade two-listed city walls, on top of which is West Walls Road.
Jill Anderson, acquisition manager for Whitbread in the North of England, said: “Since announcing our plans in May 2025 people have told us that they wish to see the vacant Central Plaza site brought back into long-term use.
“They also welcome the new employment opportunities and positive economic benefits the hotel will bring to the city. We’re very grateful for all the support we’ve received so far from stakeholders and representative groups we have spoken to.”
She added: “The site on West Walls is not an easy location to redevelop into a hotel, and we’ve had to be flexible to create a design that meets our operational requirements and is economically viable.
“The contemporary design we are proposing responds positively to the historic context and will create an active frontage onto both Victoria Viaduct and West Walls. We’re eager to move the proposal forward, get onto the site and deliver the package of benefits the hotel will create.”
The view of the hotel from the street. Credit: via planning documents
RGP Consulting Engineers, Thornley and Lumb Partnership, Arbtech, and E3P all worked on the application.
To view the scheme, use the planning reference number 25/0661 on Cumberland Council’s planning portal.
What a poor replacement – absolutely awful.
By Heritage Action
well done Jill
By Tannoy
Sadly the architects seem to have taken inspiration from the old Tesco building to the right! Cheap and nasty.
By J
Carlisle has done much right recently. This undermines that good work – what a fire replacement.
Perhaps Cumberland Council should draw up a design code, like W&FC next door is doing and the Lake District National Park has already done.
By Rye