Muthu Glasgow River Hotel, Erskine

The Muthu Glasgow River Hotel sits on the north bank of the Clyde at Erskine, formerly trading as the Erskine Bridge Hotel. From early February 2023 the Home Office and its Scottish accommodation contractor Mears Group placed up to 200 single men aged between 18 and 40 at the site as contingency dispersal accommodation. The opening was confirmed by local press and by STV News, which reported the planned arrival figure^[1]Broadcast^[2]Press.

The campaign group Patriotic Alternative held repeated demonstrations at the hotel through 2023, with counter rallies organised by anti racism campaigners and trade unions. The Ferret published an investigation in February 2023 setting out Patriotic Alternative recruitment activity in Erskine during the dispute^[4]Press. STV News covered the on site clashes between protesters and counter demonstrators^[1]Broadcast.

Coverage from The Ferret in 2024 documented mental health pressures on residents at Scottish asylum hotels including the Muthu Glasgow River Hotel. The reporting recorded an attempt of self harm by a resident and described isolation and depression among long stay residents at contingency hotels managed by Mears^[5]Press.

These accounts informed wider Scottish Parliament scrutiny of the Home Office contingency hotel model in Scotland, including evidence sessions at the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee and lived experience engagement at Maryhill Integration Network in June 2023. The contract was wound down by 5 April 2024, with about 114 residents moved to dispersed accommodation across Scotland^[3]Press.

At the £170 per person per night Migration Observatory benchmark^[6], a 200 person contingency hotel run at full asylum occupancy implies headline taxpayer exposure of about £34,000 per night. Across the roughly 14 month operating window that totals an estimated £14.5 million, comfortably above the £5.84 million annual per hotel mean recorded by the May 2025 NAO contract review^[7]NAO.