Aberbeen City Councillors have unanimously approved a planning application to create a 97 bedroom hotel in the buildings previously occupied by Aberdeen department store Esslemont and Macintosh.

Aberdeen City Council's planning committee has granted detailed planning permission, subject to conditions, to create a new, larger link between the two Union Street buildings, over St Catherine's Wynd; to increase the height of the building on the Broad Street corner; and to build an extension on the Broad Street gable.

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Two shops will be created in the basements and ground floor levels of each building, providing four retail units in total

The hotel on the upper levels will be served by a restaurant, bar, and lounge.

Planning committee convener Scott Cassie said: "This is a tremendous achievement for the E&Ms site, which has looked pretty sad for the last while. We need hotel bedrooms in Aberdeen, and now we have this chance to have a really nice hotel in the centre of the city.

"A new hotel and shops on this site is great news for the city's economy, tourism, and business trade, and this decision shows that Aberdeen truly is open for business."

(GK/JM)