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The hotel has now closed its doors to the public to accommodate those seeking asylum in the UK, leaving its paying guests to wonder where they are sleeping.
Sarah Jones, from Willenhall, was visiting Shrewsbury with a friend when she was informed by the hotel that she would not be able to stay for the planned second night.
After staying one night without any problems, the hotel staff informed the two ladies that it was closing on Monday to make way for asylum seekers.
“It was absolute chaos,” Sarah explained.
“They told us they would put us up in another hotel, but that hotel told us no one paid for the rooms, so we can’t check in and I just don’t know what to do.
“We spent the day walking around town, but we can’t go any further. We have been told we can get a refund but it won’t come for three days and in the meantime what are we supposed to do?
“I really feel sorry for the staff here, there are a lot of people standing at the desk. It’s not their fault, but it looks like they’ve just been left behind.”
On Monday night, the hotel said it was working hard to find new accommodation for its paying guests.
In a statement, the hotel said: “We work with the government to welcome people who are in desperate need of a roof over their heads – often people who have fled war-torn countries and are looking for a safe place to stay while they wait for a more permanent home .
“This interim agreement will provide much needed investment in the hotel which we expect will help us in the future as well as providing permanent employment for our staff.
“We will continue to operate as an accommodation provider, so we will be providing food and laundry services to our guests, but we will not be accepting outside bookings during this time.
“We want to reassure residents and businesses that we are working hard to ensure our guests are well supported.
“Specific numbers are yet to be confirmed, but we expect to house in the region of 30 to 60 people over a period of several months and look forward to being able to confirm more details in due course.
“We have taken the difficult decision to cancel all future bookings and have contacted everyone with future bookings to let them know.
“Where guests have already booked, we are also working with Shrewsbury BID to help find alternative venues in Shrewsbury town centre.”
The leader of Shropshire Council said the authority planned to do everything in its power to offer support to those involved and hoped the opportunity would allow Shropshire to “play a positive role” in an issue it faces. the whole country.
Council leader Lesley Picton said: “To date Shropshire, compared to many other parts of the country, has received a limited number of asylum seekers. Shropshire has been very welcoming and responsive to refugees since the recent crises in Afghanistan and Ukraine and I’m sure this will continue.
“As a council we will do what we can to support the various groups involved. We want to ensure that this is well managed and runs as smoothly as possible and we are looking at ways in which we can encourage those at the hotel to make a positive contribution to life in the county.
“This will see a significant investment in a major town center hotel and we are supporting Shrewsbury BID to ensure that other businesses in the county can help and take on any bookings that the hotel is now unable to take.
“During the pandemic, another historic hotel in Shrewsbury, the Prince Rupert Hotel, stepped up to respond to an emergency and support homeless people, showing how such opportunities can be the right thing to do to benefit people and businesses.”
“I’m sure this can become another example where we can demonstrate how Shropshire is playing a positive role in helping with this national problem.”
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