Best Western Yew Lodge Hotel, Kegworth

The Yew Lodge is a Best Western branded conference and leisure hotel set in five acres of grounds on the edge of Kegworth, north west Leicestershire. Before the asylum contract it traded as a full service venue with around 220 bedrooms, a restaurant franchise and an attached escape rooms business. ITV News Central reported in February 2023 that the hotel had cancelled all public reservations and gym memberships ahead of asylum seekers moving in on Monday 27 February 2023, with Serco named as the responsible contractor^[1]Broadcast.

Like several other Midlands hotels brought into the asylum estate during the small boats peak, the site was used as contingency accommodation under the Asylum Accommodation and Support Services (AASC) contract held in the East Midlands by Serco. Public booking businesses inside the building, including the Marco Pierre White restaurant and Houdini Escape Rooms, were displaced for the duration of the contract.

The change of use was sharply contested locally. A petition opposing the plan circulated within days, and a public protest was held outside the hotel in late February 2023. Following that protest Leicestershire Police charged a man with public order offences in connection with the demonstration^[2]Broadcast.

Concerns raised by Kegworth residents and the parish council focused on the loss of public amenity at a relatively small village hotel, the lack of advance consultation, and the displacement of established commercial bookings inside the building.

In July 2024 the government confirmed the asylum contract at the Yew Lodge would end, making it one of the last asylum hotels remaining in Leicestershire. Local MP Craig Smith published a statement welcoming the closure and thanking residents, community leaders, and the District and County Council for their work during what he described as a very difficult and unsettling period^[3]Press.

The government attributed the closure to reduced inflow, pointing to a 36 per cent fall in Channel crossings the previous year and progress against trafficking networks. Smith said he wanted the building restored for local employment and community use rather than left vacant.

At the £170 per person per night Migration Observatory benchmark^[4], a peak headcount of 220 residents implies headline taxpayer exposure of around £37,400 per night and roughly £13.7 million per year at full occupancy. Across the 17 month asylum period that puts cumulative spend at around £19 million, although actual run rate varied with occupancy. The May 2025 NAO contract review put the average per hotel run rate across the wider portfolio at about £5.84 million per year^[5]NAO.