PLANS for a budget hotel partly run by the company responsible for easyJet landed in Summertown yesterday.

The easyHotel chain announced it has signed a 25-year lease on a site in Banbury Road’s main shopping area currently occupied by estate agents Knight Frank.

According to the hotel chain, the agreement is subject to planning permission being granted.

The chain said a new purpose-built 180-room easyHotel will occupy the first and second floors of the property and is expected to open in the second half of 2019.

City councillor for Summertown Andrew Gant said he was not surprised by the proposal as there was strong demand for hotel rooms in Oxford.

He said: “Clearly there is a market for this and I welcome the idea in principle.

“The site itself has been identified as one that could be better used, with a big warehouse and big car park behind.

“The city needs more hotels and it definitely needs more budget hotels.

“This new hotel would be on a sustainable transport route quite near to Oxford Parkway train station.

“It’s possible 180 rooms might be too many for this site and of course the design would be a concern- it would have to be in keeping with the character of the area - Summertown is a nice part of Oxford.”

Mr Gant added that the hotel’s appearance would have to be in keeping with nearby Victorian buildings and the hotel’s design would be considered by planners when a planning application was submitted.

The easyHotel chain said Summertown had been chosen as Oxford was ‘a key economic centre in the UK and a popular tourist destination where demand for hotel accommodation is consistently strong.

Guy Parsons, CEO of easyHotel plc said: “Oxford is a premier business and tourist destination with over seven million visitors per year.

“The city has been on our target list for some time and we are pleased to have agreed terms on this new hotel, which will be the closest branded budget and super budget hotel to the city centre.”

The chain added that the lack of suitable available sites and the high price of land made Oxford a difficult location for the construction of new hotel.

The Oxford site takes easyHotel’s ‘pipeline’ of owned development projects to 781 rooms in addition to the 1,236 franchise rooms currently under development.

The hotel chain easyHotel an AIM (Alternative Investment Market) -listed PLC, founded in 1998, as the holding company for the easy group of companies. It is privately owned by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou.

Last month councillors approved a planning application to demolish the block of shops in Banbury Road which features estate agent Knight Frank and Majestic Wine in favour of a two-storey building to create more retail space.

The building could be knocked down and replaced by a larger four-unit block.

No one from Knight Frank, which has an office at 280 Banbury Road, was available for comment.