PLANS to renovate the vacant Cathedral Hotel will next week be presented at a public event. 

The new owner's plan to turn the building, which has been empty since July 2022, into a high-quality boutique hotel with 13 luxury suites, "filling a crucial gap in Salisbury’s local hospitality market, drawing more visitors and significant expenditure to this great city and saving a historic hotel building".

A key element will be a new rooftop Spitfire Bar, envisioned as a tribute to all the local workers who worked on Spitfire components in the city.

Owners, the Fordingbridge-based company Larasian, has said: "The proposed rooftop Spitfire Bar is key to ensuring a viable redevelopment of this site and will provide a destination with unrivalled views of the Salisbury Cathedral spire and the City’s skyline."

See more: See inside new moto cafe at former butchers as project nears completion

Sketch view of the rooftop bar. Credit: BrightSPACE, (now part of national architects practice Corstorphine & Wright)Sketch view of the rooftop bar. Credit: BrightSPACE, (now part of national architects practice Corstorphine & Wright) (Image: Brightspace Architects)

Other details include: 

  • The rejuvenation of the hotel’s restaurant which will feature access to a private landscaped dining courtyard.
  • Reintroducing opportunities for al fresco dining at the hotel through the revitalised rear courtyard, which will include a new piece of public art intended to pay homage to Salisbury’s skyline with a bespoke backlit corten steel cityscape.

Larasian said: "Working alongside local architect BrightSPACE, (now part of national architects practice Corstorphine & Wright) Larasian is committed to delivering a sensitively designed development that focuses on respectfully preserving the building’s history while also providing the opportunity to enjoy the City’s skyline. 

"The introduction of a boutique hotel to Salisbury will attract new travellers and provide the opportunity for visitors to stay overnight in the city and therefore generate additional new expenditure at other hospitality, leisure and retail businesses across Salisbury and Wiltshire."

The drop-in event will be open to businesses, residents and "stakeholder groups", and will be held at Salisbury Guildhall on Tuesday, August 6, from 2pm to 7pm.