Holiday Inn Warrington (Woolston)

The Holiday Inn at Woolston Grange Avenue is a four-star branded hotel on the eastern fringe of Warrington close to Junction 21 of the M6. In April 2023 Warrington Worldwide reported that the site was closing to the paying public after Home Office contractor Serco agreed terms to use the hotel for asylum dispersal accommodation, with up to 166 single males due to arrive from May 2023^[1]Press.

In August 2025 the Holiday Inn Woolston became one of several northern asylum hotels targeted by the wave of weekly demonstrations that followed the High Court asylum-hotel ruling. ITV News Granada reported around 80 protesters and counter-protesters outside the site, with Warrington borough hosting 227 asylum seekers in hotels at the time^[2]Broadcast.

Unlike the OYO Lakeside in St Helens or the OYO Paddington House in Padgate, the Woolston site was not included in the eleven-hotel closure batch announced by the Home Office in April 2026, and Warrington Worldwide reporting indicates the site will continue operating^[3]Press.

In December 2025 Warrington Worldwide reported that the Holiday Inn was undergoing a dramatic multi-million-pound refurbishment whilst residents remained on site. Major capital works during a live Home Office contract are unusual for an asylum dispersal hotel and signal that Serco and IHG expect a long contract tail at this site^[3]Press.

At the £170 per person per night Migration Observatory benchmark^[4], 166 residents imply headline taxpayer exposure of about £28,220 per night and roughly £10.3 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^[5]NAO, so Woolston runs at almost double the national average for a single Serco North West site.