16-02-2025
School takes over vacant seafront hotel
A school has purchased a seafront hotel to use for its own accommodation purposes.
Buckswood School has bought the former Chatsworth Hotel on Carlisle Parade, Hastings, which closed for business on February 9, 2024.
The Indian restaurant, Jali, which operated on the hotel's ground floor, also closed at the same time.
The hotel has now been vacated, and the new owner plans to repurpose it without altering the internal layout or external appearance.
The school's planned change of use from a hotel to a residential institution was validated by Hastings Borough Council on January 23.
If approved, the hotel will provide short-stay accommodation for the school's students.
The change in use is not expected to affect the context of the development, as it remains similar to the previous hotel use.
No parking area is proposed, but the site is within a 10-minute walk of Hastings Train Station and is next to bus stops. Buckswood School also operates a minibus service.
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Pedestrian access via the main entrance on Carlisle Parade will remain the same, with no changes to access at the front or rear elevations.
The school has not consulted with the local authority regarding access, as the use remains similar to that of a hotel.
A full-time house manager will be on-site to ensure any necessary provisions for disabled individuals or those with mobility difficulties.
Buckswood School is a private school for boys and girls that was founded in 1933.
Originally, the school was situated in Uckfield and known as Buckswood Grange School.
In 2000, it relocated to the village of Guestling between the towns of Rye and Hastings in East Sussex.
