Devastated couples had their weddings cancelled after the hotel they were using closed suddenly to house asylum seekers.
The Best Western Cresta Court Hotel in Altrincham – owned by a group chaired by former BBC director-general Greg Dyke – was shut to paying guests on Monday after being turned over to accommodate almost 300 migrants.
The news sparked fury among locals and led to a major row after residents were informed at a public meeting that the guests would receive ‘free private healthcare’ to reduce pressure on NHS services.
It subsequently emerged that health cover would be provided by not-for-profit provider GTD Healthcare, which stressed it did not provide private care and was being commissioned by the NHS.
Dan Butler and Katy Evans were due to get married at the hotel on May 24 next year and are among at least two couples who have had their weddings called off due to the last-minute Home Office deal.
Dan Butler and Katy Evans were due to get married at the hotel on May 24 next year and are among at least two couples who had their weddings called off
The Cresta Court Hotel in upmarket Altrincham has closed for one year as migrants are about to move in
Migrants were spotted at the hotel yesterday – understood to be from Syria, Yemen, Iran and Somalia
The news torpedoed an all-inclusive package agreed all the way back in April 18 2023, which cost £9,000 and included a wedding ceremony, breakfast and a reception for 60 daytime guests before a 120-strong party in the evening.
They had also reserved 20 beds at the venue for guests on the night of the wedding and an additional 12 rooms for the night before their wedding day.
‘We’ve had 18 months of imagining the day and slowly getting our stuff together,’ Ms Evans previously told local newspaper Altrincham Today. ‘I’d been getting more excited and had sorted out my wedding dress.’
Mr Butler, a cable jointer, and office manager Ms Evans had already paid £5,000 of their bill to Cresta Court and carefully saved up to pay the rest, which they were preparing to do next week before hearing the devastating news – which caused the bride-to-be to burst into tears.
Fortunately, the couple have since managed to arrange a new date for their wedding in July next year and a new venue, Mere Court in Knutsford.
They are not the only people to have been left disappointed by the closure of Cresta Court, with a second wedding also cancelled despite being less than a month away on December 7.
A friend of the bride took to social media to share the upsetting news, writing: ‘Best Western have no regard for the heartbreak these decisions make.
‘This is a second chance for my friend and her hubby to be, after a genuinely serious health scare…
‘After a really difficult year with his health it was going to be a fantastic ending. Sadly Cresta Courts owners have ruined that and at the moment they can’t see the wood for the trees. Absolutely gutted for them.’
Cresta Court Hotel has been a fixture in the prosperous Greater Manchester town of Altrincham since the 1970s.
As recently as last week, local businesses were being encouraged to book their Christmas parties there.
However despite Labour’s manifesto pledge to end the use of hotels, barges and military sites as accommodation for asylum seekers, the Cresta Court is now housing mainly-male migrants under a Home Office-approved deal – to the fury of many locals.
The news caused outrage in the town as parties, weddings and functions have all been cancelled. Pictured: Migrants outside the hotel
The hotel is part of Vine Hotels, which Greg Dyke (pictured) – a former FA chairman and BBC director-general from 2000-2004 – chairs as well as being a major shareholder
Worried residents gathered at a meeting on Monday to voice their concerns
But some residents gathered to show their support for migrants and refugees outside the venue despite the migrants being housed with no notice
It comes after ministers warned that the immigration system would ‘descend into chaos’ if they failed to open more asylum hotels.
Upcoming bookings at the Cresta Court have been abruptly cancelled, with room reservations no longer being taken.
Staff were last week seen removing posters emblazoned ‘Christmas is coming’ advertising the hotel’s events venue.
Meanwhile bored-looking young men – understood to be from Syria, Yemen, Iran and Somalia – have been seen congregating outside.
The hotel is part of Vine Hotels, which Mr Dyke – a former FA chairman and BBC director-general from 2000-2004 – chairs as well as being a major shareholder.
It is understood to have signed a year-long deal with private contractor Serco to house asylum seekers after receiving Home Office ‘ministerial approval’.
On Monday a public meeting was held at which locals expressed safety fears over the hotel’s proximity to several schools as well as placing local health services and police under strain.
Nearby residents say they were given no advance warning.
At the meeting, locals expressed safety fears over the hotel’s proximity to several schools as well as placing local health services and police under strain
People speaking out said they were ‘not happy to be honest’ and that they ‘were given no notice at all’
Yesterday a 59-year-old who only gave her first name Angela told the Daily Mail: ‘I’m devastated.
‘I don’t feel I can take my grandchildren down the park now and I’m going to get extra security at home.
‘I think it’s just the wrong place to put them, so close to the town centre.
‘Even if they don’t intend to be, their presence will feel threatening.
‘I’m also worried about the impact on the town in general and on visitors who might be put off from coming.’
Another woman said: ‘I am just not happy to be honest.
‘We were given no notice at all.’
An 88-year-old woman living close to the hotel said: ‘It’s difficult because they have to go somewhere.
‘But I admit it has caused me concern because I was worried it could lead to crime going up.’
One of the new residents, a 27-year-old man, said he’d only arrived in Britain on Saturday via a small boat after fleeing violence in his native Syria.
Police talk to members of the public who stood outside the hotel holding signs which said ‘Refugees welcome’
He said it was a ‘good’ hotel and that he hoped to eventually find work in a restaurant once his asylum claim is processed.
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘This government inherited an asylum system under unprecedented strain, with thousands stuck in a backlog without their claims processed.
‘We have taken immediate action to restart asylum processing which will save an estimated £7 billion for the tax payer over the next ten years, and are delivering a major uplift in returns to remove people with no right to be in the UK.
‘Over the long term this will reduce our reliance on hotels and costs of accommodation.
‘We remain absolutely committed to ending the use of hotels for asylum seekers and continue to identify a range of accommodation options to minimise their use.’
MailOnline has contacted Best Western for comment.
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