It would be "a shame" for a Grade II-listed hotel, said to have once seen visits from Queen Victoria, Admiral Lord Nelson and Jane Austen, to be converted into student flats.
The 99 bedrooms at the Dolphin Hotel – situated on High Street in the heart of Southampton city centre – could be turned into student accommodation with en-suite facilities, if recently-submitted plans are approved.
Most recently the Dolphin Hotel has been used to provide temporary accommodation for asylum seekers, though the Home Office’s use of the facility is set to end next month.
Dolphin Hotel Property Ltd has submitted a change of use application for the site, with a letter submitted on behalf of the applicant by Savills, stating the proposal will “enable a long-term viable use” of the building.
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Reacting to the news, Southampton Itchen MP, Royston Smith, told the Echo: “It would be a shame to lose the Dolphin as a hotel.
“I'm afraid I find it just another example of what has been allowed to happen to Southampton.
“We have plenty to be proud of and other hotels in the city are thriving and new ones are coming.”
He added: “If the Labour council cared about the city at all they would use all their influence to ensure the owners of the Dolphin Hotel reinstated it to its former glory, in the way they said they would before taking refugees and asylum seekers.”
Under the proposed redevelopment of the hotel – which is being considered Southampton City Council’s planning department – the existing communal hotel facilities would be available for the students, including a large dining hall, kitchen, function rooms as recreation spaces and a communal lounge.
A heritage statement said student accommodation would be a suitable alternative due to the minimal changes required to the building.
The heritage statement said: “The proposed conversion of the listed building to student accommodation will provide the opportunity for the Dolphin Hotel to be revitalised as a key historic building within the city centre, and for its unique heritage and historic hotel use to be celebrated as part of the scheme.”
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