THE �5million new hotel at the heart of the Waterfront is helping to change the face of this part of the town.

With Travelodge due to open its Duke Street hotel within the next few weeks, arch rival Premier Inn’s new hotel between Star Lane and Key Street is rapidly taking shape.

That is due to open in January and when complete will have 85 bedrooms and employ about 32 members of staff.

The Premier Inn will also have a cafe/bar for guests – and should be a major destination for visitors to the town.

It is being built on part of the Paul’s site and its guests will use the new car park that has been developed next to it beside St Mary at Quay church.

A spokeswoman for Premier Inn said: “We are pleased to be completing this �5m investment in the local economy.”

Built by locally-based ISG, the new hotel is also seen as a vital bridge between the developing Waterfront area and the historic town centre.

The development of the new hotels has been one of the continuing developments around the Waterfront while work on The Mill and Regatta Quay has stalled.

However now that the two major developments on the Waterfront are being managed by the same administrator there is increased hope that work will restart on them over the next few months.