THE hotelier who successfully developed Slaley Hall in Northumberland into a luxury golfing location, is building the first of a nationwide chain of budget hotels in the North-East.

Paresh Kotecha was on site yesterday at Junction 60 on the A1M at Newton Aycliffe, for the launch of building work for the first hotel in the chain by Aston Hotels.

The hotel will be groundbreaking in design and concept. The outer walls will be built in a record seven days, and will have 100 soundproof bedrooms, which come ready built as pods.

The hotel will also offer video conferencing, email and communication facilities, as well as three meeting rooms and conference facilities.

The chain will be at the upper end of the budget market, with large, fully air-conditioned rooms, walk-in power showers and larger televisions than other similar hotels already on the market.

It will also have a restaurant, as well as sports and fitness club alongside it. The hotel should be completed and open for business by May next year.

Mr Kotecha said: "We will predominantly be targeting the business market, who want a bit more comfort and facilities, but don't want to pay exhorbitant prices.

"It will be better than a three- star, but not quite a four-star.

"It will be quite different to what is already on the market, because with other budget chains you are almost at the same price, but without the quality and ambiance we will be offering."

The chain is a completely different project to Slaley Hall, which he bought from the receivers in 1994, before developing it into a luxury hotel.

He then built the second championship golf course and brought the European Golf Championship to the hotel, before selling it to De Vere Hotels five years later.

Mr Kotecha said it was planned to open five of the budget hotels within the next five years. "We are looking up and down the country for locations, but it is early days.

"Certainly I will be looking at the North-East. I live near London, but I have grown accustomed to the North-East since my Slaley Hall days," he said.

" I like it here and keep coming back for more."