Patio Hotel, Aberdeen

The Patio Hotel sat at the foot of Beach Boulevard, looking out onto the Aberdeen seafront promenade. As of mid 2023 Aberdeen had two contingency hotels in use, with a third due to follow, under the Mears Group Asylum Accommodation and Support Contract for Scotland and Northern Ireland. Mosques, churches and local charities visited the Patio, alongside the Sure Hotel on Lang Stracht, to support new arrivals^[2]Press.

In September 2025 the Home Office moved residents out of the Patio and the Hampton by Hilton in Westhill to Farmer's Hall, a vacant student accommodation block in the Rosemount area of Aberdeen. Residents reported being from countries including Iran, Somalia and Eritrea^[1]Press.

The Patio became the focus of repeated anti migrant demonstrations during 2025, including a protest at which a smoke canister was thrown by a counter demonstrator. The Press & Journal covered the on site protest activity and council leaders criticised the Home Office for moving residents between sites with very little notice^[3]Press.

At the £170 per person per night Migration Observatory benchmark^[4], a hotel of around 150 residents implies headline taxpayer exposure of about £25,500 per night, or roughly £9.3 million a year at full asylum occupancy. The May 2025 NAO contract review confirmed hotel accommodation under the Mears regional contract has remained the most expensive accommodation modality across the Scotland and Northern Ireland system^[5]NAO.