Brook Hotel, Bowthorpe Norwich

The Brook Hotel sits on Barnard Road in Bowthorpe, on the western edge of Norwich (NR5 postcode). It is operated under the Best Western brand and has been used by the Home Office under the East of England Asylum Accommodation and Support Services contract. Home Office figures cited in regional press in mid 2025 showed 207 asylum seekers housed across Norwich hotels at the end of June, with the Brook the largest single site^[1]Broadcast.

On 26 July 2025, several hundred anti immigration protesters gathered at the Brook Hotel chanting slogans including we want our country back. Around 150 counter demonstrators were present. Norfolk Police described the rally as noisy but largely peaceful, with no arrests on the day. Officers said footage would be reviewed for any criminal offences^[1]Broadcast.

LBC reported the protest as part of a wider national wave of asylum hotel demonstrations in summer 2025, with the Brook becoming one of the most photographed and live streamed sites alongside the Bell Hotel in Epping and the Britannia International in Canary Wharf^[2]Press. Subsequent gatherings into September 2025 saw two arrests at the Brook for public order offences.

On 23 July 2025, Hope Not Hate published a briefing naming the Brook Hotel in Norwich alongside the Park Hotel in Diss and other sites as escalating anti migrant flashpoints. The briefing profiled the organisers driving the recurring Bowthorpe demonstrations and mapped the connections between local protest groups and national protest networks^[3]Press.

At the £170 per person per night Migration Observatory benchmark^[4], an estimated 200 person occupancy implies headline taxpayer exposure of around £34,000 per night and roughly £12.4 million per year. 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.