A DISUSED pub in Glasgow city centre is to be turned into a budget hotel which won't provide wardrobes for guests.

Instead, guests who check-in to the new Z Hotel will be able to hang their clothes on hooks fixed to room walls and store luggage bags under their beds.

Millions of pounds are to be spent on transforming the former Old Printworks pub, near George Square, into a boutique hotel which will have 106 bedrooms across five floors.

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council confirmed planning approval had been granted after Z Hotels lodged a change of use application.

There are already two Z Hotels in London and another in Liverpool. The North Frederick Street development will be the company's first Scottish hotel.

It is thought to have spent around £1million buying up the empty property, which had been used as a pub until last orders were called four years ago.

The Old Printworks had been a popular venue for students and office workers for more than 10 years.

In 2000 it was listed in a comprehensive guide which detailed Britain's best 500 public houses.

Although the hotel rooms have been described as "tiny" with no wardrobe, the fittings are said to be stylish and include large flat screen televisions, which show free Sky football matches.

Z chiefs market their hotels as ideal stopovers for "urbanites" who want to book into "central hotels with uber-modern interior design".

Just last week, Steven Fyfe, of Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels & Hospitality, announced he had sold the pub to Z Hotels for an undisclosed fee.

It came just 18 months after the company was launched by two ex-Thistle Hotel executives, who are determined to take on rival budget chains such as Travelodge by opening hotels in city centres.

Mr Fyfe said: "The location of the site, at the heart of the city centre, is ideal for a hotel brand which is committed to accommodating city dwellers.

"The former Old Printworks building is just off George Square, within the Strathclyde University Campus area, and less than 200m from Queen Street train station."

He believes the investment being made by Z Hotels bodes well for the city's hospitality sector. He added: "The sale demonstrates there is an appetite for developers, investors and operators to enter the Glasgow hotel market."

gordon.thomson@ eveningtimes.co.uk