The former White Sands Hotel could welcome visitors again, according to a recent planning application.

The application, submitted by the Design Group on behalf of Grape Bay Holdings Ltd, the owners of the White Sands Hotel, proposes a renovation of the Paget property, converting 40 hotel rooms to 18 suites.

The proposal also includes a renovation of the pool area, additional guest parking and improved vehicle access to the South Shore site.

In planning documents, the application said the proposal would be a net positive, removing or renovating derelict structures on the property and creating an “all-suite boutique hotel” which would add new suites to the island’s hotel inventory.

The project would reduce the maximum number of guests at the site from 80 to 53 but increase green space on the property by 30 per cent and reduce building cover in the area by 20 per cent.

The applicant also said the redevelopment would “stop the steady on-site deterioration” and reduce the risk of arson and other misuse of the property.

The White Sands hotel first welcomed guests in 1953, but closed just shy of its 50th anniversary in 2002.

The property was reopened the following year as the Grape Bay Beach Hotel, but it was later leased to the Bermuda Hospitals Board to be used to accommodate nursing staff.

The BHB confirmed that they had moved out of the property in 2012.