Southsea hotel to open for garden parties from tomorrow

Queens Hotel, in Southsea, will hold its first garden party of the summer tomorrow as other pubs and restaurants begin to reopen following lockdown changes.

Tables will seat groups of six and will be distanced two metres apart. Staff will provide table service of drinks and food.

Hotel manager director Farid Yeganeh said: ‘We have had such a good response from people for this first weekend and I want people to feel safe when they come to us.

‘It will be a different experience from previous events but safety is of the utmost importance. There will be a maximum of 150 people in the session and tables will be distanced in their own area.

‘I think as we come out of lockdown people are looking for somewhere to go safely and have fun.’

The hotel hoped to have live music but have had to cancel acts due to government guidelines. Instead Southsea DJ Kim Little will spin the decks with R&B, soul and sixties classics and there will also be background music.

Since lockdown began in March, the hotel team have provided rooms and pamper packages for NHS workers away from their families, prepped more than 600 meals a week for vulnerable people in the community and projected light shows every week for Clap for Carers.

In total more than 7,200 meals were sent out in lockdown to vulnerable people around the city thanks to a collaboration between the hotel, a collective of voluntary organisations called Portsmouth Hive, Portsmouth City Council, NHS Portsmouth CCG, Pompey in the Community, as well as Anghel Niko Nedelcu, head chef from Portsmouth’s Brasserie Blanc and Royal Beach Hotel head chef Paul Playford.

The initiative received two £3,000 anonymous donations, as well as food donations from local businesses including butchers Buckwells.

The garden events will run on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 12pm until 7pm.

Tables will be released each Monday for the following weekend.

For bookings email [email protected] or call 02392 822466.

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