Brook Hotel, Bowthorpe Norwich
The Best Western Brook Hotel on Barnard Road in Bowthorpe, west Norwich, was used as Home Office asylum accommodation from September 2022 until May 2026, when the last residents moved out[4]Press[5]Press. In summer 2025 the site became a national protest flashpoint, with around 400 anti immigration protesters and 150 counter demonstrators gathering at the hotel on 26 July 2025[1]Broadcast[2]Press.
Capacity
200
estimated peak occupancy
Per night
£170
per resident
Annual
£12m
per year while in use
Background
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 was 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.
Summer 2025 protests
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.
Hope Not Hate flashpoint listing
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.
Cost analysis
At the £170 per person per night Migration Observatory benchmark[7], an estimated 200 person occupancy implied headline taxpayer exposure of around £34,000 per night and roughly £12.4 million per year while the hotel was in asylum use (September 2022 to May 2026). The May 2025 NAO contract review put the average per hotel run rate across the wider portfolio at about £5.84 million per year[8]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
Brook Hotel Norwich (while in use)
£170
per person per night
UK asylum hotel avg
£170
NAO
Norwich budget hotel
£55
commercial
Hostel bed
£30
commercial
Timeline
Timeline
Before Sep 2022
Operates as a commercial Best Western branded leisure hotel in Bowthorpe
Sep 2022
Brought into Home Office asylum use
East of England Asylum Accommodation and Support Services contract; combined with the Park Hotel in Diss as Norfolk's two main asylum hotels.
Jul 2025
Hope Not Hate flashpoint listing
Briefing names the Brook as one of three escalating UK anti migrant protest sites; profiles local organisers.
26 Jul 2025
Mass protest at the doors
Around 400 anti immigration protesters and 150 counter demonstrators meet at the hotel; Norfolk Police describe the event as largely peaceful.
Sep 2025
Two arrests at follow up gathering
Norfolk Police arrest two men in their 20s on suspicion of public order offences during a later Brook Hotel demonstration.
13 May 2026
Last residents leave
Neighbours report the last asylum seekers leaving in minibuses and taxis, and a local councillor says the hotel is now empty.
15 May 2026
Home Office confirms closure
The Home Office confirms the hotel is no longer housing asylum seekers.
12 Aug 2026
Named among thirteen hotels exited
The Home Office lists the Best Western Brook Hotel, Norwich among thirteen asylum hotels exited and returned to local communities.
Sources
- Hundreds attend anti-immigration protest outside asylum hotel in Norwich · ITV News Anglia, Jul 2025
Reports that several hundred anti immigration protesters gathered outside the Brook Hotel in Bowthorpe on 26 July 2025, with around 150 counter protesters present. Norfolk Police described the event as noisy but largely peaceful with no arrests at the scene; officers said footage would be reviewed for any offences.
- Hundreds attend anti-immigration protest outside Norwich asylum hotel · LBC, Jul 2025
Reports the Brook Hotel in Bowthorpe, Norwich, as the focal point of a major anti immigration protest involving around 400 protesters and 150 counter demonstrators. Frames the gathering as part of a national wave of asylum hotel protests in summer 2025.
- Briefing: Anti-migrant activity ramps up in 3 locations across the country · Hope Not Hate, Jul 2025
Names the Brook Hotel in Norwich alongside the Park Hotel in Diss and other asylum hotels as escalating anti migrant flashpoints in summer 2025, profiling the organisers behind the recurring Bowthorpe demonstrations.
- Asylum seekers moved out of Brook Hotel in Bowthorpe · Watton & Swaffham Times (Newsquest), 14 May 2026
Neighbours of the Brook Hotel in Bowthorpe say the last residents left on the afternoon of Wednesday 13 May 2026, and a Costessey district councillor says the venue is now empty. The paper says the hotel had been used to accommodate asylum seekers since September 2022, with more than 200 at its peak.
- Home Office confirms Brook Hotel in Bowthorpe is closed · Watton & Swaffham Times (Newsquest), 15 May 2026
The Home Office confirms that the last asylum seekers have been moved out of the Brook Hotel in Bowthorpe and that it is no longer housing asylum seekers; the paper understands the contract with Best Western has ended and the deal expires in August 2026.
- Thirteen asylum hotels exited and returned to local communities · Home Office / GOV.UK, 12 August 2026
Names 13 asylum hotels exited and returned to local communities: Ramada Jarvis Hotel, Loughborough; Chimney House Hotel, Sandbach; Britannia Ashley Hotel, Hale; Gold Thorn Hotel, Wolverhampton; Grand Metropole Hotel, Blackpool; Nottingham Hotel, Nottingham; Grosvenor Hotel, Stratford-upon-Avon; Staycity Apartments Deptford Bridge, Lewisham; Needham House, Hitchin; Holiday Inn, Bridgwater; Holiday Inn Express, Dunstable; Dubrovnik Hotel, Bradford; and Best Western Brook Hotel, Norwich.
- 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.