Popular Southsea hotel cancels all bookings to house refugees leaving customers 'fuming'

The Royal Beach Hotel, in St Helens Parade, has taken on a Home Office contract that will see all 74 rooms occupied by ‘families in need’ for the next six months.

Several customers reached out to The News to express their dismay that their bookings had suddenly been cancelled without warning.

Phil Skawski, an army transport corps veteran of 22 years service, said he was left ‘fuming’ when the hotel pulled the plug on his trip to celebrate his 51st wedding anniversary.

The Swadlincote resident and his wife had booked their three-night stay from March 6 more than three weeks ago – and received an email from the booking website to announce the cancellation on Sunday.

The 71-year-old, who made the £600 booking without paying up front, said: ‘We were looking forward to it, so we were very disappointed.

‘I called the hotel and spoke to the guy from reception – he said he was terribly sorry, and that some would call back on Monday to explain.

‘There’s been no email, no phone call, no nothing.’

The leader of Portsmouth City Council said he had been informed of the Home Office plan last Thursday – giving councillors just days to prepare for the arrival of the refugees.

The Liberal Democrat councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson said: ‘I was talking with other council leaders and a minister (on Tuesday), and I complained about having only three days notice - and all the other council leaders said they had been given much less notice.

‘Because of the catastrophic failings with the government’s asylum policy, the government is hiring hotels left, right, and centre across the country, I think there are two in Southampton, and several in Bournemouth. They have made a complete pig’s ear of this.

‘The Home Office doesn’t work with people, it just does things to people.’

‘We needed to work with the community – it’s an important facility in the city.’

The hotel represents a large tourist venue offering a reduced service when the city’s tourism sector is looking to bounce back from the pandemic, the council leader said.

But he added: ‘I can completely understand why a hotel operator would do this – they have guaranteed income.’

An email sent from a senior hotel staff member to a customer describes the new occupants of the hotel as refugees.

And now the council leader has called on the city to welcome those in need who will be staying at the hotel.

He said: ‘These may well be people who worked with British troops in Afghanistan. I’m sure we would all want to make sure we recognise the sacrifices they made to protect our troops. At times, because of the Royal Marines presence, there were more naval personnel in Afghanistan than the army. We should recognise those who have risked their lives for those marines.’

A spokeswoman from the Royal Beach Hotel apologised to customers for the cancellations and said staff were ‘saddened’ that the hotel would be closing its doors to tourists.

The spokeswoman said: ‘The Royal Beach was chosen by the Home Office and is being operated with the support of Portsmouth City Council, Hampshire Police, NHS and others linking to provide support as needed.

‘Our function rooms remain open and available with their own private entrance.

‘We are, as a matter of course, contacting everyone who has an event booked at the Royal Beach but if people have any immediate concerns about their booking, please do not hesitate to contact the events team on ([email protected])’

The hotel has taken on the Home Office contract as plans to revamp the venue have been hit by ‘lengthy delays’, according to the spokeswoman.

She added: ‘We were faced with the twin effects of the pandemic which has taken a harsh toll on hospitality generally, coupled with lengthy delays in a planning decision that could have helped to sustain the hotel.

‘We currently have implemented planning permission for the east wing of the hotel to be turned into 40 apartments, leaving the west wing operating as a hotel.

‘We were seeking to reduce the number of units to 29 larger luxury flats that would be more in keeping with the seafront location.

‘However ten-a-half months on, we are no closer to a planning decision and we were forced to look for alternative uses for the hotel.’

A Home Office spokesman said the government department was unable to comment on ‘commercial decisions taken by individual hoteliers’.

He said: ‘The use of hotels is only ever a short-term solution and we are working with local authorities to find appropriate long term accommodation across the United Kingdom.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

Subscribe here for unlimited access to all our coverage, including Pompey, for just 26p a day.