Pictures and video - take a look inside new Hastings hotel

Hotel Vive is in Havelock Road and has been designed and developed by Cochrane Design.

Developers at Cochrane Design were given planning permission in October 2020 by Hastings Borough Council to change the former University of Brighton building in Havelock Road into student accommodation and an adjacent hotel, called Hotel Vive.

The pandemic delayed the start of the development but work finally started in March this year.

Developers said the new phase will encompass 48 units and is expected to be complete in July 2023.

Earlier this month, Sean Cochrane, founder of Cochrane Design, said: “After years of renovating and developing in some of the most salubrious districts of London, I stumbled upon some opportunities to personally invest in a smallish town on the south coast that was at the start of, what is now, a continuous growth. That is where my passion for Hastings began.

"As I spent more time down there, converting, renovating my own personal properties, I could not help but think there was something ‘missing’ from Hastings. It had the tourism, it had the features and it has a rising commuter and corporate sector, what it needed was a block of apartments that was befitting of the town, that would become the main stay serviced accommodation apartment block that could be run under a renowned hotel management style operation.”

Hastings and Rye MP, Sally-Ann Hart took a tour of the new hotel on Friday (November 25).