MYSTERY OVER FUTURE OF HOTEL
Hayley Parker Bookings are cancelled at short notice
MYSTERY surrounds the future of a Hanley hotel after bookings were cancelled at short notice.
The Best Western Stoke City Centre Hotel - formerly The Quality Hotel and The Grand
- will be ‘closed to the general public’ from November 27.
It comes as The Sentinel has been contacted to say the Trinity Street hotel will be used to accommodate asylum seekers but there is yet to be any official confirmation.
Repeated calls to the hotel went unanswered yesterday afternoon.
However, a worker told The Sentinel that a staff meeting is due to be held on Friday afternoon to discuss the situation.
The shock closure has left Stoke City fans who travel from Norway and Sweden to matches at the bet365 Stadium having to find an alternative venue.
A letter sent from Best Western manager Tom Wilde to the Stoke City Swedish Supporters’ Club and seen by The Sentinel reads: “Please be aware the Best Western Stoke On Trent City Centre Hotel, will be closing to the general public as of Sunday November 27. Therefore, any bookings after this date have been cancelled. We will not be receiving anymore bookings after the above date.”
Runar Kvernen, left, from Stoke City Supporters Branch Norway, said fans had only switched to the Best Western following the closure of The Tollgate in Blurton.
The 64-year-old, from Oslo, added: “We agreed special rates with the Best Western so it could be our new home when following Stoke City. The hotel was always busy and there were no signs that it was going to shut.
“We’ve not heard anything directly from the hotel but the Swedish fans received an email saying it will be closing from this weekend.”
The shock closure comes as the North Stafford Hotel, opposite Stoke Station, is being used to accommodate asylum seekers. It is understood that Home Office asylum contractor Serco had previously been asked about whether it would be taking over any other hotels in the city but, at the time, denied this was the case.
Jenni Halliday, Serco’s contract director for asylum accommodation Services, said: “With the significant increases in the number of people arriving in the UK we have been faced with no alternative but to temporarily accommodate some asylum seekers in hotels. The Serco team is working extremely hard to move people into dispersed social housing as rapidly as possible.”