yesterday.

The Grotto Bay Hotel has applied for planning permission to build an extra 96 rooms as well as renovate and add to the main hotel building.

However, it is understood the rooms may not be added in one go -- and could be phased in blocks of a dozen as business dictates.

Yesterday chairman of the Grotto Bay board, Dr. James King, was off the Island and unavailable for comment.

However The Royal Gazette understands the plans may not be put into effect immediately if planning permission is granted.

It is believed work on the main hotel will go ahead, but the new rooms could be built sometime in the future according to demand -- giving the hotel an option to expand if necessary.

Work on the main building will include some small extensions and a new lobby -- which will be enlarged and made to look more inviting.

The zoning for the land is major hotel and cottage colony, nature and woodland reserve and cave conservation area.

However, it is understood the hotel development will not infringe on the nature reserve and the National Trust is concerned primarily with olivewood trees -- eight or nine of which are 300 years old.

The Trust has yet to make a final decision over its stance on the plan and was given a presentation by Grotto Bay earlier this week.

A spokesman for the Trust said last night: "It seems that most of the development is within the tourist zoning and we would support much of the application.

"We do have some difficulty with an area that has eight or nine olivewood trees which are in the 200- to 300-year-old range. I do not think it really affects the reserves.'' No cost has been put to the Grotto Bay development but the plans follow in the footsteps of other multi-million dollar hotel schemes.

It has been predicted that by the turn of the century, at least $50 million will have been spent on hotel renovations in Bermuda since 1994.