There will also be a 220-seat Beefeater restaurant on the site – which will be Whitbread’s first ever low-carbon restaurant – although what a low-carbon restaurant is I’m not sure, although the Whitbread press release does state that the Burgess Hill development will include:

• Ground-source heat pumps using the earth’s natural energy to provide heating and cooling cool as well as hot water
• Rainwater harvesting and grey water recycling providing 100% of the hotel’s toilet water use and saving 20% of the hotel’s entire water use
• High-efficiency thermal insulation
• Low-flow showerheads delivering the feel and effect of a powerful shower without the associated water loss
• Heat-recovery shower systems capturing and reusing energy used by the boilers
• Automated light controls with intelligent sensors turning lights off when not in use
• Sun pipes reducing the need for artificial lighting by increasing natural light

These latest properties are part of the company’s “Good Together” programme where Whitbread are pledging to reduce carbon emissions by 26% by 2020.