White Hart Hotel: Plans for swimming pool and gym complex at Lincoln's celeb favourite

The White Hart Hotel could become the first city centre hotel with a swimming pool — right in the heart of historic Lincoln — alongside a spa and gym complex inside the Grade II listed building. A planning application has gone in to City of Lincoln Council from local businessman Andrew Long, who purchased the White Hart Hotel back in 2022.

It was temporarily closed in March last year to make way for an extensive multi-million pound refurbishment of the site, and the next stage of that development appears to be in motion. Many big names have stayed at the White Hart Hotel in the past, including Tom Hanks, Margaret Thatcher and Princess Anne to name a few.

The new application seeks permission to build a swimming pool, sauna and gym complex within the hotel. It would be used by hotel guests along with associated changing facilities, and the applicant hopes it will “contribute towards the revival of the White Hart as Lincoln’s premier hotel destination.”

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Additional employment opportunities would also be created, both through local contractors for the build itself, as well as staff members for the complex once it is completed. If approved, the facility would be located at the rear of the building along Eastgate, where construction works have already been approved and are taking place for an initial enclosure for the leisure pool and spa area.

Archaeological evaluations have resulted in the removal of the existing modern concrete floor slab, to make way for the pool area, which will be approximately 11m in length and 1.4m at maximum depth.

White Hart Hotel in Lincoln’s Bailgate

There will be no changes to the external appearance of the existing building and the internal layout will remain “mainly unchanged” from previously consented proposals. There have already been a raft of changes at the White Hart Hotel since it reopened to the public, including the introduction of a new restaurant called Antlers.

Andrew Long is not stopping at just the White Hart Hotel, either. In 2022 he acquired the nearby Judge’s Lodgings in Castle Square from Lincolnshire County Council. The 999-year virtual freehold came with initial plans for a ‘kiosk-style’ retail arcade of retail units situated within the frontage of 2 Bailgate, as well as 30 additional hotel bedrooms and other hospitality facilities.

It is expected that the two historic sites will be operated under the White Hart Hotel blanket and fully integrated, retaining the on-site customer parking spaces for the hotel itself. The leisure complex proposal is up for consultation until Thursday, March 7, with the public invited to have their say on the City of Lincoln Council planning portal.

The White Hart Hotel has been contacted for additional comment.