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A spa could be added to Faversham’s largest hotel as part of the latest set of plans to expand the historic site.
Bosses from the Judds Folly Hotel in Ospringe have lodged proposals with Swale Borough Council to build the facility in order to make better use of the business’ swimming pool.
They also want to expand the first floor of the building – parts of which date back to the 1600s – to provide two new rooms.
No details about what services the spa would offer have yet been revealed.
Planning papers say: “The current proposal for a spa facility is intended to compliment the hotel and make use of the existing, though disused, swimming pool.
“The design for the additional two rooms to the first floor of what was a 1960s motel block of four cabins is in keeping with the existing buildings.”
Ospringe Parish Council says it has no objections to the scheme, as long as borough council planners deem it not to be “too visually intrusive”.
The project is the latest in a number of bids to expand the hotel, which is part of the old Syndale Park, over the last 12 years.
Owner Jason Wolverson took over the building, formerly the Syndale Motel, in 2009.
Since then, the site has grown from having just four rooms to 28.
The documents add: “A Palladian-style manor house was built [on the site] for Daniel Judd, a munitions manufacturer in the 17th Century.
“From the middle of the 20th century, the property has operated as a hotel.
“In 1966, the manor house was destroyed by a fire, leaving only staff and ancillary buildings.
“Two single-storey blocks of motel rooms were built [afterwards].
“The remains of the original property, servant and service areas have over the last 40 years been improved to provide a country house hotel facility.”
The site was substantially damaged in the 1960s, prompting the demolition of many of its remains.
A small part of the original property has been incorporated into the collection of buildings that form the hotel.
Earlier this year, the local authority gave Mr Wolverson the green light to add a further six bedrooms to the business.
It also waved through proposals to demolish the property’s existing function room in order to replace it with an upgraded meeting area capable of hosting larger weddings.
Judds Folly, which has 35 rooms, will lose its title as the largest hotel in Faversham when the 84-bed Premier Inn at the 310-home Perry Court development eventually opens in late-summer.
