Lord Bute conversion plans detail path to 19-room hotel for The Oaks

20 August 2026

Further planning details have been revealed for the conversion of The Lord Bute in Highcliffe into hotel accommodation linked to the neighbouring Oaks pub.

Heartwood Inns, which acquired the site earlier this year, has submitted a listed building consent application covering internal reconfiguration and limited external works. The proposal would remove the restaurant use entirely, convert ground floor spaces and the Selfridges Suite into additional bedrooms, and adapt the conservatory into a permanent structure housing one more room.

An orangery on the north side would be replaced by a new L-shaped colonnade. The overall target is around 19 boutique-style bedrooms that would operate under The Oaks name.

No major extensions are planned and the buildings themselves are not listed, though they adjoin the Grade II listed East Lodge. Parking arrangements would stay the same.

The full change of use application was validated in April; the latest listed building details are under consultation until 21 August.

The site sits in the original grounds of Highcliffe Castle. Its pair of lodges once formed the entrance to High Cliff, the late eighteenth-century house built for John Stuart, third Earl of Bute, who served briefly as Prime Minister.

The modern hotel and restaurant buildings were added later and for many years provided both fine dining and guest rooms.

Under chef Bradley Green the restaurant held two AA Rosettes before lease uncertainties and a failed residential redevelopment bid by the previous freeholder led to closure in January 2026.

Heartwood’s purchase in March marked a shift away from housing proposals that BCP Council had refused the previous October. The group has stated that the conversion will support the long-term viability of the adjacent pub while adding visitor accommodation in an area of recognised demand.

If approved, the works would retain the character of the existing buildings while securing their continued use for hospitality. An autumn reopening under The Oaks branding remains the stated aim.