Kings Gap Hotel, Hoylake
The Kings Gap Hotel in Hoylake on the Wirral is a former Holiday Inn Express that has been used as Home Office asylum accommodation under Serco since 2020. A July 2025 plan to switch the site from asylum families to single males triggered one of the most significant protest flashpoints of the year, with four arrests including one for terror-related public order offences[1]Press[2]Broadcast.
Last confirmed in asylum use: November 2025 (BBC News, via The Global Herald)[6]
Background
The Kings Gap Hotel sits at the junction of The Kings Gap and Stanley Road in Hoylake, an affluent town on the north coast of the Wirral peninsula. The building previously traded as a Holiday Inn Express but has housed asylum seekers since May 2020: Heswall Nub News reported in February 2021 that they had been staying there "since last May"[8]Press. It is used under Serco's North West regional Asylum Accommodation and Support Services contract. Heswall Nub News reported on 26 February 2021 that around 30 asylum seekers housed in Hoylake were left outside one evening after a contract dispute; that is a partial count from 2021, and no count of the hotel's residents has been published since.
The 2025 protests
Protests and counter-protests were seen in Hoylake over July and August 2025 over reports that the Home Office planned to change the residents from asylum-seeking families to single males. LiverpoolWorld recalled them on 10 November 2025 in an update from the Wirral Council leader, Cllr Paula Basnett, on the Home Office's change at the hotel[1]Press.
On 31 July 2025 Merseyside Police arrested a 25 year old man from Sefton outside the hotel on suspicion of inviting support for a proscribed terrorist organisation, alongside three further arrests for public order offences[2]Broadcast.
BBC investigation
A BBC News investigation, syndicated by Yahoo News and reported on 28 January 2026, found that one of Dr Faisal Maassarani's companies spent about £3.5 million in November 2025 buying the Kings Gap Hotel, which was already operating as asylum accommodation[6]Press. Maassarani became connected to a network of firms that took over several Serco-contracted hotels from 2022 onwards[3]Broadcast.
The BBC investigation also linked the same network to an alleged illegal eviction attempt at Parliament Place in Liverpool, where about 116 asylum seekers were reportedly lined up to move in shortly after long term tenants were told to leave for fire safety works. Optimus Hotel Management, of which Maassarani is a director, has since taken a loan secured against the £3.5 million Kings Gap property[3]Broadcast.
Cost analysis
No count of residents has been published for the Kings Gap Hotel, so no nightly, annual or cumulative cost is estimated here. The Migration Observatory benchmark is £170 per person per night[4]. 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.
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
UK asylum hotel avg
£170
NAO
Wirral budget hotel
£60
commercial
Hostel bed
£30
commercial
Timeline
Timeline
Pre-2020
Operates as a commercial Holiday Inn Express on the Wirral coast
May 2020
Asylum use begins
Heswall Nub News (26 February 2021) says asylum seekers have been staying at the hotel "since last May". Home Office contracts the site to Serco for North West dispersal accommodation.
Feb 2021
Around 30 asylum seekers left outside after a contract dispute
Heswall Nub News. A partial count from 2021, not a count of residents.
Jul 2025
Family-to-single-male transition planned
The Home Office is reported to be planning to use the hotel for male asylum seekers.
Jul-Aug 2025
Protests and counter-protests
LiverpoolWorld recalls protests and counter-protests in Hoylake over July and August 2025 over the use of the hotel to house male asylum seekers.
31 Jul 2025
Four arrests
Including one terror-related arrest for inviting support for a proscribed organisation.
6 Aug 2025
Reported as housing mostly families
The Post (Liverpool) reported that the hotel was repurposed in 2020 to house people while their asylum applications are processed, and that for the past four years the guests have been mostly families.
10 Nov 2025
Council leader update on the Home Office's change at the hotel
LiverpoolWorld quotes the Wirral Council leader, Cllr Paula Basnett, and recalls the July and August protests.
Nov 2025
£3.5m purchase; BBC investigation reported in January 2026
GP Faisal Maassarani company buys the building; loans secured against it. The hotel was already operating as asylum accommodation when it was bought; the report shows nothing after that.
Sources
- Wirral Council leader gives update on Home Office's Hoylake asylum seeker hotel change · Liverpool World, 10 Nov 2025
Liverpool World (Ed Barnes, Local Democracy Reporting Service), 10 November 2025: an update from the Wirral Council leader, Cllr Paula Basnett, on the Home Office's change at the former Holiday Inn Express at Kings Gap, Hoylake, recalling that over July and August there were protests and counter-protests in Hoylake over its use to house male asylum seekers. It gives no number of residents.
- Man arrested outside Wirral hotel on suspicion of inviting support for banned terrorist organisation · ITV News Granada, Aug 2025
ITV News Granada reports a 25 year old man from Sefton was arrested outside the Kings Gap Hotel in Hoylake on suspicion of inviting support for a proscribed terrorist organisation, alongside three further arrests for public order offences during ongoing protests.
- Millionaire GP behind asylum seeker hotels · BBC News (Yahoo News syndication), Jan 2026
BBC News investigation finds that one of Dr Faisal Maassarani's companies spent about £3.5 million in November 2025 buying the Kings Gap Hotel in Hoylake, which had been running as Serco-contracted asylum accommodation since 2020, with related firms accused of attempting to evict residents from another property to free up space for asylum placements.
- 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.
- GP-linked firms bought hotels used for asylum housing as tenants were told to leave, investigation finds · The Global Herald (syndicating BBC News), 28 Jan 2026
Syndicated BBC News investigation reporting that one of a GP's companies paid £3.5m in November 2025 for the King's Gap hotel in Hoylake, which had already been operating as asylum seeker accommodation. It shows use at the November 2025 purchase and nothing after that.
- Hoylake: the affluent Wirral town split by Britain's migrant debate · The Post (Liverpool), 6 Aug 2025
Says the King's Gap Hotel in Hoylake, once a Holiday Inn, was repurposed in 2020 by the Home Office to house migrants while their asylum applications are processed, and that for the past four years the guests have been mostly families. It gives no resident number.
- Asylum seekers in Hoylake came in from the cold after five hours · Heswall Nub News (Mark Gorton), 26 Feb 2021
Reports that around 30 asylum seekers housed in Hoylake were left outside in the cold one evening after a contract dispute, and says asylum seekers have been staying at a Holiday Inn Express on King's Gap "since last May" (May 2020). The 30 may be a partial count; it is not a count of residents.