A huge new Glasgow hotel, which has rooms for students as well as holiday makers, has been granted an alcohol licence before it opens.

The newly built Social Hub Hotel sits in Candleriggs Square – which has been derelict for two decades and was historically a fruit market.

The multi-million new Merchant City building is set to have 500 rooms and has been described as Scotland’s biggest hotel. It is due to open in March next year according to its website. There is to be a rooftop bar offering food and cocktails as well as meeting spaces and a gym.

An agent said the development is a “spectacular building” at a licensing board meeting on Friday where TSH Glasgow OPCO applied for a licence to sell alcohol. Representing the firm, the agent said “it is a unique application,” adding: “Not only is it a hotel, it has student accommodation.”

The agent described the hotel as a” melting pot” and a place to socialise and share ideas. Students would have access to a shared kitchen at the complex and have their own bathroom and shower. According to its website the student accommodation is due to open in February and a cleaning service would be offered.

Councillors granted the provisional premises alcohol licence at the licensing board on Friday.

There are Social Hub Hotels in more than a dozen cities including Vienna, Amsterdam, Barcelona and Berlin. The Glasgow hotel development is understood to be a joint venture between  Drum Property Group and Stamford Property Investments.

The site is bordered by Trongate, Wilson Street, Hutcheson Street and Brunswick Street and used to house the Goldberg department store before it closed down.

it is understood more than 346 apartments for rent are also being built on the site as part of the development.