The nine-storey Gorge Hotel is set to be built at the TRC site, which is owned by the JAC Group. 

A 145-room hotel, 500 people conference centre, 200-seat bar and restaurant, function rooms, rooftop cocktail bar, day spa and gym is proposed. 

Parking for 175 vehicles is also planned. 

The hotel would be built over two stages. 

The Josef Chromy group commissioned six different architects paying them $5000 each to design a hotel before selecting the best concept, the development application said. 

"Most of the architects spent over five times that amount on their designs for the opportunity to participate in this project," it said. 

CBG Architects, from Melbourne, was awarded the contract which allowed them to prepare plans and elevations for the development application based on their concept design. 

Tessellated glass panels are the building's "most notable features", with proposed rooftop planting and building setback to give context to the surrounding landscape. The facade is designed to disperse reflected light.

"The tessellations have been designed to take on the appearance of the waterfalls and cliff faces commonly found at Cataract Gorge, the hotels' namesake," the application said.

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The hotel design has two main components: a podium level of two-storeys and a centrally located tower to a maximum of nine-storeys.

The podium features rock patterned precast concrete panels to give the appearance of a cliff face.

The car park would be located in the basement. 

Three international hotel operators have sought to manage the hotel as a four-and-half star to a five-star hotel under their branding. The hotel has been designed to meet their needs. While the application does not say who the chains are, two already have hotels in Hobart, and another would be its first hotel in Tasmania.

It is estimated that the introduction of premium hotel brands such as Hyatt, Marriot, InterContinental and Accor to Tasmania would introduce new visitor demand of about 10 per cent of all guests that stay in those hotels, the application said. 

The site is not heritage listed. 

A bottleshop, carpark, service station and pub currently operate from the site. 

The application is open for comment until May 1.