The Best Western New Kent Hotel and Carlton Hotel on Osborne Road have filed applications with Newcastle City Council (NCC) to expand their permits to serve alcohol. The applications are currently open for consultation to Jesmond residents.

The New Kent Hotel requested lifting the current restriction on trading during Christmas and Good Friday, and to amend the ground floor plans of the building. The hotel also hopes to open up its bar to the public, rather than just guests. The new bar will be operational from 11:00 to 22:00 Sunday to Thursday, and between 11:00 and 23:00 on Friday and Saturday.

The application also adds exterior seating to the dining room, with the map indicating six tables could be placed outside the building. To facilitate this, a new door in front of the dining room will be created. The outdoor seating will be closed by 21:00 every day, until 09:00 to reduce noise from the venue.

The application filed by the Carlton Hotel seeks to lift the restriction on serving alcohol at the Spy Bar. Currently, the restriction limits the sale of alcohol only to customers ordering a meal. Public consultation on the New Kent Hotel ends on April 19th, while Carlton Hotel’s application closed on April 17th.

Vinod Venayak, who runs the New Kent Hotel, told JesmondLocal that “the JRA [Jesmond Residents Association] by publicising any licensing application on their social media sites do not do justice to any application made.”

He added: “Our proposal is based on more food orientated and relaxed drinking rather than vertical of just drinking.” The hotel aims to make its space a more “social hub”, Venayak said, rather than just another bar on Osborne Road.

Both applications come after Chucho’s Mexican restaurant on nearby Acorn Road was granted an alcohol licence.

JesmondLocal contacted the Jesmond Residents Association for comment, but has yet to hear back. At the time of writing neither consultation has objections registered on the council website.