Best Western Queens Hotel, Perth
The Best Western Queens Hotel stands at the junction of Leonard Street and Cross Street in central Perth. After being purchased by Compass Hospitality and put on the market for £1.25 million, the hotel closed to commercial guests in 2022 in order to house asylum seekers under the Mears Group regional contract. In August 2023 The Courier reported Home Office plans to add 115 more residents across the Queens and the Radisson Blu Perth by having residents share rooms[1]Press.
Capacity
54
residents (pre-doubling)
Per night
£170
per resident
Annual
£3.4m
estimated
Background
The Queens is a long established Perth city centre hotel, previously trading as a three star Best Western property with 52 bedrooms. After Compass Hospitality acquired the building in 2022 and listed it for sale, it was withdrawn from the commercial market and entered Mears Group asylum use as part of the wider Perth contingency hotel cluster[1]Press.
In summer 2023 The Perth Gazette reported on the new Home Office requirement that asylum seekers at the Queens and the Radisson Blu Perth share rooms in order to free up capacity elsewhere in the dispersal estate[3]Press.
Welfare and council scrutiny
The Courier reported on the welfare conditions of residents at the Perth contingency hotels, including testimony from an Arabic speaking street pastor about the difficulties faced by residents at the Queens. Concerns ranged from cramped shared rooms after the doubling decision, to long stays without substantial decisions on asylum claims, and isolation from friends and community in dispersal flats[2]Press.
Cost analysis
At the £170 per person per night Migration Observatory benchmark[4], the Queens at its initial 54 resident occupancy implied taxpayer exposure of about £9,200 per night, rising materially after the doubling. The May 2025 NAO contract review confirmed that hotel use under the Mears regional contract has remained the most expensive accommodation modality in Scotland[5]NAO.
Per person per day cost stack (benchmark)
£170- Hotel rate (room + three meals)£10059%
- Weekly cash allowance£74%
- Legal aid & casework£127%
- NHS / interpreter / utilities£1911%
- Contractor / security overhead£3219%
Cost in context
Best Western Queens Perth
£170
estimated
UK asylum hotel avg
£170
NAO
Perth budget hotel
£80
commercial
Hostel bed
£30
commercial
Timeline
Timeline
Pre-2022
Trades as a three star Best Western on Cross Street, Perth
2022
Compass Hospitality acquires the hotel and lists it at £1.25 million; site closes to commercial guests
2022
Asylum residents placed at the Queens under the Mears AASC regional contract
Aug 2023
Doubling of capacity announced
The Courier reports plans for 115 more residents across the Queens and the Radisson Blu Perth via room sharing.
2023
Welfare and council scrutiny
Coverage by The Courier and The Perth Gazette captures conditions and the room sharing decision.
Sources
- MP criticises plan to add 115 asylum seekers to two Perth hotels — The Courier (Dundee), Aug 2023
Reports a Home Office plan to add 115 more residents across the Best Western Queens Hotel and the Radisson Blu Perth via room sharing, with criticism from the local MP.
- Arabic-speaking street pastor reveals struggles for Perth hotel asylum seekers — The Courier (Dundee), 2023
Coverage of welfare conditions for asylum residents at the Perth contingency hotels, drawing on testimony from an Arabic speaking street pastor working with the Best Western Queens and Radisson Blu populations.
- Asylum accommodation in the UK — Migration Observatory, University of Oxford, Aug 2025
£170 per person per day in hotels (2024/25 average); used for per-hotel estimates and food/utilities breakdowns.
- The Home Office's asylum accommodation contracts — National Audit Office, May 2025
222 hotels in use; £1.296 billion annual (2024/25); per-hotel approximately £5.84 million.