PLANS to redevelop three East Cliff hotels will help replace the town’s ‘stag and hen culture’, Bournemouth council has been told.

Quantum Group, which acquired Cottonwood, Ocean View and Bay View Hotels in 2011, delivered an update of its proposals to the planning board on Monday.

The plan entails installing a new 90-bedroom luxury hotel and two blocks of flats for elderly residents comprising 122 apartments.

Quantum’s managing director, David Hines, said he believes the project will rejuvenate the East Cliff, which he described as the ‘jewel in Bournemouth’s crown’.

“The hotels have been in administration, they are no longer fit for purpose and they are economically unviable to provide the quality of hotel offering that the town requires and the economy requires,” he added.

“The new hotel that we are proposing decants all the existing activities of the hotels into one new, fit-for-purpose brand-new hotel.

“It has got two key central features.

“First of all this is a four-star grade hotel offering bigger rooms of better quality.

“And secondly it is the function rooms. The function rooms currently comprise 3,500 square feet of rooms overlooking the sea and for those who have been in Bournemouth’s large function rooms, of which there are very few good rooms in the town, nobody yet has been able to tell me about another sea-facing room with 180-degree sea views.

“It would be a massive, massive contribution to the hotel offering in the town and attract in more high-grade business which we desperately need to replace the stags and hens.”

The project’s architect, Sam Hobson, said the plans have been evolving for three years and significant changes have been made after consultation with design panels and local business.

“The key move has been to relocate all the parking to below ground,” he added.

“It allows us to give priority to pedestrians, remove all the tarmac and replace it with soft landscaping.”

Mr Hobson said the tree count on the site will also be increased from 32 to 70.

He added that the assisted living blocks will “reduce stress on local social service budgets and create a vibrant, sustainable residential community that will help resolve the problems of an ageing population.”

The application is expected to be heard in full at December’s planning meeting.