Grosvenor Hotel, Stratford-upon-Avon
The Grosvenor Hotel sits on Warwick Road in the centre of Stratford-upon-Avon. Owned by Brightstar Hospitality Management, the 79-room hotel closed to the public in September 2022 with all rooms made available to the Home Office for use as contingency asylum accommodation. Up to 150 single women, couples and family groups were initially placed at the site, and Stratford-upon-Avon MP Nadhim Zahawi later backed calls for the hotel to exit the scheme as part of the Robert Jenrick 50-hotel exit programme[1]Press[3]Press.
Capacity
150
asylum residents (peak)
Per night
£170
per resident
Annual
£9.3m
estimated
Background
The Grosvenor was reopened under its historic name in March 2022 by Brightstar Hospitality Management, which had acquired the property the previous year while it was trading as the Villare. From September 2022 the Stratford Observer confirmed the Grosvenor as the town hotel taken into Home Office contingency use, with single women, couples and family groups being placed at the site. Warwickshire County Council and Stratford District Council coordinated welfare support for residents alongside local volunteer groups[2]Press[4]GOV.UK.
Nadhim Zahawi backs hotel exit
In late 2023 the immigration minister Robert Jenrick announced the Home Office would exit 50 contingency hotels from the programme. Stratford-upon-Avon MP Nadhim Zahawi publicly backed calls for the Grosvenor to be on that list, giving his support to local campaigners who said a town-centre tourism hotel was not the right setting for contingency accommodation[3]Press.
Cost analysis
At the £170 per person per night Migration Observatory benchmark[5], housing 150 residents implies headline taxpayer exposure of about £25,500 per night and roughly £9.3 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[6]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
Grosvenor Stratford
£170
benchmark
UK asylum hotel avg
£170
NAO
Stratford budget hotel
£80
commercial
Hostel bed
£30
commercial
Timeline
Timeline
Sep 2021
Brightstar acquires the Villare
Brightstar Hospitality Management buys the 76-bedroom hotel and rebrands.
Mar 2022
Reopens as the Grosvenor
Hotel returns to its historic name on 10 March 2022.
Sep 2022
Closed to public; up to 150 asylum seekers placed
All 79 rooms made available for Home Office contingency use, accommodating single women, couples and family groups.
2023
MP Zahawi backs exit
Stratford MP Nadhim Zahawi backs inclusion on the Robert Jenrick 50-hotel exit list.
Sources
- Up to 150 asylum seekers are to be housed in the Grosvenor Hotel in Stratford town centre — Stratford Herald, Sep 2022
Stratford Herald reports up to 150 asylum seekers are to be housed in the Grosvenor Hotel on Warwick Road in Stratford-upon-Avon, with the 79-room property closed to the public and all rooms made available for use by the Home Office.
- The Grosvenor confirmed as the Stratford hotel set to house asylum seekers — Stratford Observer, Sep 2022
Stratford Observer confirms the Grosvenor on Warwick Road is the Stratford hotel taken into Home Office contingency use, with single women, couples and family groups starting to arrive at the property owned by Brightstar Hospitality Management.
- Nadhim Zahawi gives his backing for Stratford hotel to stop taking asylum seekers — Stratford Herald, 2023
Stratford Herald reports Stratford-upon-Avon MP Nadhim Zahawi backed calls for the Grosvenor Hotel to be removed from the Home Office contingency programme after the immigration minister Robert Jenrick announced moves to exit 50 hotels from the scheme.
- Home Office accommodation for asylum seekers in Stratford-upon-Avon — Warwickshire County Council, 2022
Warwickshire County Council statement confirming Home Office contingency accommodation use of the Grosvenor Hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon, with the Council and Stratford District Council coordinating welfare support for residents alongside volunteer groups.
- 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.