Park Inn by Radisson, Glasgow
The Park Inn by Radisson on West George Street, Glasgow, was placed into use as asylum accommodation by Mears in 2020 during the early-pandemic shift away from dispersed flats. On 26 June 2020 a Sudanese asylum seeker who had been housed at the hotel, Badreddin Abadlla Adam, attacked guests and staff with a knife. Six people, including a police officer, were injured before he was shot dead by police[1]Press. The attack became a pivotal moment in Scotland's debate over asylum hotels and dispersal.
Capacity
124
rooms
Per night
£170
per resident
Annual
£7.7m
estimated
Background
In April 2020 Mears, the Home Office contractor for Scotland, moved hundreds of asylum seekers from dispersed flats into a cluster of city centre hotels including the Park Inn, McLays Guest House and the Alexander Thomson Hotel. The change was made under the cover of pandemic-era public health guidance and was opposed by Glasgow City Council, the Scottish Refugee Council and Positive Action in Housing[1]Press.
The June 2020 stabbing
On 26 June 2020 Badreddin Abadlla Adam, a Sudanese asylum seeker resident at the hotel, attacked guests and staff in the lobby. Six people were injured, including PC David Whyte. Adam was shot and killed by armed officers. A subsequent Police Scotland review and Fatal Accident Inquiry examined the conditions in the hotel and the welfare support that was in place at the time[1].
Cost analysis
The Park Inn was one of around half a dozen Glasgow city centre hotels taken into asylum use in spring 2020. Across the cluster, several hundred asylum seekers were housed at the £170/night Migration Observatory benchmark[2]. The May 2025 NAO contract review confirmed that hotel use under regional contracts has remained the most expensive accommodation modality across the system[3]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
Park Inn Glasgow
£170
benchmark
UK asylum hotel avg
£170
NAO
Glasgow budget hotel
£70
commercial
Hostel bed
£30
commercial
Timeline
Timeline
Apr 2020
Mears moves residents from flats into Glasgow hotels
5 May 2020
Death of Adnan Olbeh at McLays Guest House
Linked nearby site; same hotel-cluster contract.
26 Jun 2020
Park Inn stabbing
6 injured; attacker shot dead by police.
2020-21
Hotel cluster wound down; residents returned to dispersed flats
Sources
- Glasgow hotel asylum seekers update — Positive Action in Housing, 2020
Documents the Park Inn Glasgow stabbing of 26 June 2020 and the wider use of Glasgow city centre hotels for asylum accommodation by Mears under Home Office contract.
- 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.