Apex Hotels to open £35m Bath hotel

Apex Hotels is set to open a new hotel in Bath as part of a £35m scheme that will see Kingsmead House - reckoned to be one of the city's ugliest buildings - demolished.

The building, which has stood empty for six years, will be demolished to make way for a new four-star, eight-storey hotel building on James St West.

The 177-room hotel has been developed by Telereal Trillium, which took three years to obtain planning permission for the project and another three to find an operator to take it over, according to the Bath Chronicle.

But Apex Hotels has now bought the site with planning permission for an undisclosed sum.

Apex said it would invest £35m in the Bath hotel, with building work set to begin in May next year.

"This is a rare and exciting growth opportunity for Apex to add to our portfolio and have presence in a popular Unesco World Heritage Site," said Apex chairman Norman Springford.

"Our properties have developed a great reputation and we hope to emulate this with the opening of our property in Bath."