Second phase starts on Monkbar Hotel’s £3m extension

Following three months of ground works, a three-storey steel frame is in place at the Best Western Monkbar Hotel.

The framework will eventually be home to an additional 27 bedrooms and four function rooms at the hotel.

Once the work is completed, the city centre hotel will boast in total 125 bedrooms, of which 98 will be refurbished, seven function rooms, a restaurant, lounge and reception.

Monkbar Hotel general manager Graham Usher said: "The work to totally transform the Monkbar Hotel is well underway, and on course for the new extension being completed and in use by the end of the year.

"Once that has been achieved, we will move into the third and final phase, which is the refurbishment of the original hotel.

"We are hoping this will commence in the early part of 2015 and be finished in early Spring."

In addition to creating a larger hotel, the work is also set to result in the Monkbar's Best Western rating rise from three stars to four star plus.

The interior of the public areas and existing and news guest rooms have been designed by Janine Powel, of Hampton Design, which credits Marriott, Intercontinental, Centre Parcs and New York University amongst its client list.

Mr Usher added: “This is the most exciting development in the hotel’s 24-year history, one that will totally transform the establishment in terms of facilities and standards, and one that will create more than 20 new jobs."

The project is the first extension at the Monkbar Hotel since 1998, when the hotel, which opened in 1990, increased to 99 bedrooms.

The Monkbar Hotel was purchased in 2007 by Shiva Hotels, which owns venues in London, Derby, Manchester and Coventry, and recently opened two Hampton by Hilton hotels at Waterloo and Gatwick.

Because the new extension will result in the loss of a number of car-parking spaces, the hotel has negotiated a deal with City of York Council for the use of its car parks in and around the city.