A LUXURY hotel and restaurant in Thornbury could be set for a multi-million pound face lift.

Plans submitted for improvements to Thornbury Castle would see new luxury facilities to cater for a larger number of guests – including 15 new rooms and a café bistro, as well as an indoor pool, spa and gym.

The proposals, which have been submitted to South Gloucestershire Council, outline a new and contemporary two-storey building within the castle grounds to house the new features.

Also included are plans to relocate the car park past the outer wall, with the, then vacant, space being renovated into a new garden.

Initial costings of the development are around £8-9 million, and, assuming planning permission is granted, would look to be complete by early 2018.

Nigel Chapman, CEO of Luxury Family Hotels, the Castle’s owners, said: “We are hoping through this project to get more of the existing fabric of the castle back into use.

“The improvements are a collective effort, which everyone taking part is keen to see, and even more keen to get underway.”

Describing the hotel as having been “a restaurant with bedrooms” when it was first opened as a business in 1966, Mr Chapman believes it still, in part, maintains that label.

He said: “While it really does still hold that status, I see it as having the potential to become a truly international hotel with the power to appeal to all manner of high status guests.”

“The castle has always been a prestigious place for visitors to come to in the town, but we have always aimed to make it just as appealing for local people to visit.

“But for a luxury hotel, the 26 rooms we currently have is not enough these days – people expect more.

“And with our role in running the castle being to keep it as a high profile hotel in the long term, this is where the development comes in. It is our responsibility to take it onto the next level.”