Crowne Plaza is 'closed to the public until further notice'

The Crowne Plaza, in Old Common Road, has prevented access to its car park, with a sign at the entrance saying, ‘closed to the public until further notice’.

In July, the IHG hotel became a quarantine facility for travellers coming to the UK from red list countries, after signing an exclusive contract with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

However, the Gazette understands that it is no longer being used for this purpose after it was decided that Managed Hotel Quarantine is no longer required when all countries moved into non-red categories for Covid-19.

The hotel’s website states it ‘remains closed for guest stays’ and bookings cannot be made until February 2022.

The general manager of the hotel, Peter Bartlett, has not responded to the Gazette’s request for further information.

We have received information that the hotel is being used to accommodate asylum seekers, however the Home Office was unable to confirm this. 

When we visited to take a photograph of the hotel, a man sitting in a van on the other side of the barrier questioned what we were doing.

We asked if we could speak to someone about why the hotel is closed to the public, but he told us that they do not know.