Future of Brooks Guesthouse's funky rooftop Airstream caravans in hands of Bristol planners

The ‘Rockets’ at Brooks Guesthouse in St Nicholas Street are made by US manufacturer Airstream which built a similar model to quarantine Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins on their return to Earth after the first Moon landing in 1969.

Two visitors can stay in each of the vintage trailers, which received temporary consent for 10 years in 2013.

Brooks, which won a building excellence award in 2015 for the caravans, has applied retrospectively for a further decade of permission.

In planning documents to Bristol City Council, the B&B’s agents said: “The retention of this unique style of accommodation, in a city centre location, adds to the mix of uses and the vibrancy of the area.

“The Rockets operate at an approx 87 per cent occupancy rate which is considered to be excellent.

“Typically, a good occupancy rate falls between 60-70 per cent.

“Part of the uniqueness and the charm of the Rockets are their shiny metal appearance and therefore it is in the interests of the guesthouse to make sure that they remain in a good condition.

“In any case, the Rockets are located at rooftop level and are not readily visible in views of the area from ground level.

“The use of the Rockets as hotel accommodation, with a maximum of eight guests staying within them in total, means that any noise generated by their use would be low level.

“In any case the development is set within the centre of Bristol adjacent to bars and restaurants where a certain level of noise is to be expected, even late at night.

“The applicant has also confirmed that in the 10 years the Rockets have been in place, there have been no issues of excessive levels of noise and no noise complaints have been received.”

The building was converted from a hostel to a guesthouse in 2010 and has 23 en-suite bedrooms, along with the rooftop caravans.