New Japanese-style pod hotel with rooftop bar to open at huge ex-Debenhams store in major UK city
A NEW Japanese-style pod hotel with a rooftop bar is set to open inside a huge ex-Debenhams store in a major UK city.
Plans were recently filed to convert the former Debenhams department store into design-conscious accommodation that caters to budget travellers.
The site on Princes Street in Edinburgh was left vacant after Debenhams closed all its stores in 2021.
It was lined up for a scheme to build a 210-bed up-market hotel but plans fell through last year, and the building was eventually put on the market that September.
After being bought by parent company Criterion Capital, headed by billionaire Asif Aziz, plans are now in place to combine a 328-bed hotel with a 350-bed "pod" hotel on the site.
The leisure build will feature guest rooms described as ";cocoons", with noise-reducing walls, floors and doors, along with warm ambient lighting.
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A rooftop bar and terrace will be included as in previous plans but the team are replacing some earlier proposals for the facades and floorplates to reduce their carbon footprint.
Asif said: "Opening our first hotel in Scotland is a significant step in our ambitious UK-wide expansion of our unique hotel brand.
"Edinburgh’s rich history, cultural significance and strong tourism sector make it an ideal location for Zedwell.
"This project represents a fantastic addition to our committed pipeline of 22 hotels with over 7,000 rooms.”
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It will be the first hotel in Scotland for luxury brand Zedwell when completed.
The hotel chain's website reads: "Sleep isn't a luxury.
"It's a state of mind we must embrace to live better.
"Zedwell is a lifestyle concept designed to promote sleep, positive health and wellbeing."
There are already three Zedwell hotels in London, as well as an additional hotel set to open in Manchester in 2026.
On top of this, the company also plans to have eight more hotels before 2026, bringing its total up to 12.
Summarising their proposals for the Edinburgh site, the applicant wrote: "The proposals focus on sustainability and reducing the carbon footprint associated with such a redevelopment by retaining and re-using the facades and floorplates in their current form.
"The proposals will preserve and safeguard the listed facades by incorporating a unique and flexible hotel brand offering which will work with the existing spaces, soffit heights, window locations and floorplate depths to create a dynamic and vibrant hotel in the prominent location on Princes Street."
