Royal Hotel Hull, Ferensway

The Royal Hotel sits on Ferensway in Hull city centre, directly opposite the Paragon Interchange railway and bus station. The Britannia owned property was put into Home Office use by Mears Group in late 2019 to accommodate up to 130 asylum seekers, a decision criticised by Hull City Council and local health leaders for lack of consultation^[2]Press.

In January 2023 the council leader was told a second Hull hotel would also be used for asylum accommodation, prompting a written request to the Home Secretary that the Royal Hotel arrangement be reviewed and the council consulted on any further placements^[1]Press.

On 3 August 2024 a large protest gathering in Hull city centre converged on the Royal Hotel after fighting with officers in Queen Victoria Square and King Edward Street. Hotel windows were smashed by missiles and the side blue bins were emptied and used as battering rams against the police line. Eleven officers were injured, with one left permanently scarred^[4]Press.

ITV News Calendar reported in October 2024 that a grandmother had been jailed for her role in stirring up the riot outside the Royal Hotel, one of multiple custodial sentences handed down for the disorder^[5]Broadcast.

In March 2026 Searchlight Magazine reported a six-year prison sentence for a man identified as front and centre of the violence, the longest of the sentences arising from the Hull prosecutions and one of the longest from any of the August 2024 riots^[6]Press.

At the £170 per person per night Migration Observatory benchmark^[7], a 130 resident hotel implies headline taxpayer exposure of about £22,100 per night and roughly £8.07 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^[8]NAO.