Churchill Retirement Living has permission to develop Torquay hotel that inspired Fawlty Towers
The Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay, which inspired the hit sitcom Fawlty Towers, will be turned into 32 apartments for those aged 60 and over, providing secure, self-contained homes with gardens.
The 41-bedroom hotel in Devon which ceased trading earlier last year was where John Cleese and the Monty Python team stayed while filming Monty Python’s Flying Circus over 40 years ago and inspired, unwittingly, the hit sitcom. However it was not actually used in the TV series.
Cleese’s character – neurotic hotel owner Basil Fawlty – was based on the hotel’s former owner, Donald Sinclair, whom Cleese called ‘the most marvellously rude man I’ve ever met.’
Despite various plans to demolish the hotel over the past decade, it was ultimately ideas put forward by Churchill Retirement Living that gained planning permission.
Andrew Burgess, Planning Director for Planning Issues said: “We know how much the site means to people, and once construction starts we’ll be sure to produce something that Basil would be proud of.” 
Redevelopment of the Gleneagles Hotel site will be scheduled for completion in early 2017. It will follow the same pattern of all Churchill developments; owners have the benefits of a Lodge Manager, 24 hour care line, Owners’ Lounge, Guest Suite and laundry room.
For more information visit Churchill Retirement Living
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