2 Big Central Promenade Hotels bite the dust

Employees at the Lyndene and St Chads hotels on Blackpool Promenade were told yesterday (February 2) that they no longer had jobs and would not be receiving their final furlough or wage packets after both businesses were dissolved.

It was Bespoke Hotels Chief Operating Officer (COO), Graham Marskell, who called all 80 of the hotel workers into a Zoom meeting before dropping the news that the hotels were to close after new rent agreements could not be reached with Fragrance.

www.lancs.live

Blackpool hotels close and staff left without pay as firms dissolve

"I live pay check to pay check, I'm on minimum wage and I have very little in the bank, I don't know what I'm going to do."
www.lancs.live www.lancs.live
 
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FFS the town centre & Prom will become a ghost town. What will become of all these places.
 
They will stay empty until tourism can restart or developers move in. I can’t see -a refurb of these ancient buildings....they much prefer knocking down and building new. Never liked the blue of the Lyndene anyways!
 
With “Staycations” being the in thing this Summer, If we can come out of lockdown by Easter another hotel group may offer to pay a lease to the owners from Singapore for one season and see how it goes from there.
I suppose it depends on the state of maintenance Tge rooms and building is in.
Same applies to the St Chads but the Lyndene is slightly more “iconic” wether you like the old blue building or not.
Wouldn’t be my chosen colour I must admit.😀
🚌#88
 
I have never heard of the company in Singapore so can’t comment on them directly.

Commercial landlords here tend to have a different view on rents.

Our office space here is up for renewal in April - our landlords came to us while everyone was ordered to work at home here with a proposal of 20% higher than we currently pay.

We asked for flexibility and argued the toss to no avail, so we move to new office space in April - and our current building is not full!!

The way the real estate people explained it to me, is that the value of the property company here is based on their average rent collected and empty space doesn’t count, therefore they are better off not reducing rent even if it’s difficult to re let.

Madness if you ask me!!!

In this companies defence though, we have no idea if the lease holders where massively behind on rent all ready.
 
Mate of mine has two large successful hotels, both freehold and he says he’s been better off closed, with some staff let go, some furloughed, grants and now he’ll get business interruption insurance after the recent court ruling
 
Empty hotels on the prom usually fall into disrepair or worse, seem to catch fire. Blackpool had big problems with a hotel row near the Pleasure Beach before now. This is a huge issue for both the council and the town in general.
 
Matesrates said:
Mate of mine has two large successful hotels, both freehold and he says he’s been better off closed, with some staff let go, some furloughed, grants and now he’ll get business interruption insurance after the recent court ruling
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Well we certainly haven’t been better off whilst closed. Still had to pay all bills and full rent. We’re down over £100,000 and haven’t even received £20k in grants etc. We don’t have furlough as it’s family run. We can’t get our insurance to pay out a penny. Can’t wait to get back to work.
 
Matesrates said:
Mate of mine has two large successful hotels, both freehold and he says he’s been better off closed, with some staff let go, some furloughed, grants and now he’ll get business interruption insurance after the recent court ruling
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I’ve heard similar.
 
michellebutterflyhotel said:
Well we certainly haven’t been better off whilst closed. Still had to pay all bills and full rent. We’re down over £100,000 and haven’t even received £20k in grants etc. We don’t have furlough as it’s family run. We can’t get our insurance to pay out a penny. Can’t wait to get back to work.
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Hope it happens soon Michelle, must be terrible.
 
Whilst the magic money tree is still bearing fruit it makes no sense with the timing. I'd imagine there's other reasons as well.

Short term, assuming staycations are allowed I can see quite a bit of profiteering - we:re booking now for August with cancellation cover as well as by credit card for added cover.
 
not good news, many more to follow I’d say☹️ the company that own these two also own the imperial, which I’m led to believe is safe for now at least !!
 
michellebutterflyhotel said:
Well we certainly haven’t been better off whilst closed. Still had to pay all bills and full rent. We’re down over £100,000 and haven’t even received £20k in grants etc. We don’t have furlough as it’s family run. We can’t get our insurance to pay out a penny. Can’t wait to get back to work.
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That's really hard to read Michelle. I truly hope you can benefit from a Great British summer holiday season. Lets hope the sun starts shining again soon on all of us literally and figuratively.
 
Insider said:
That's really hard to read Michelle. I truly hope you can benefit from a Great British summer holiday season. Lets hope the sun starts shining again soon on all of us literally and figuratively.
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I’m hearing May at the earliest before hotels etc can reopen even then I reckon we won’t be able to have groups of more than 6 people. So that will lose us easter and May Bank holiday for starters if this is in fact the case. Will have to see what Boris says in the week commencing the 22nd feb I guess. Gunna cost us over £1000 just to restock the bar and things like tea. Coffee sugar etc that have all gone out of date for the 2nd time since March. We restocked when we reopened in August then were closed again beginning of October so like I say all stock list for a second time
 
Desperate times. I also think that the appearance of several shiny new hotels owned by international chains will not help the traditional family run establishments. Their marketing, new facilities and ability to sell rooms at low prices will mean they attract plenty of punters.
 
My hotel business has benefited from:
Hospitality Grants in excess of £40k
Bounce Back Loan ( Significant sum )
Furlough scheme including my wife and myself via a Limited company payroll.
5% VAT on accommodation
Deferred VAT scheme
Zero Business rates for 2020/2021
High occupancy rates between July and November.

We have no financial issues and have used the downtime to renovate many of our letting bedrooms.

A lot of our stock has perished or gone out of date but the grants etc will cover replacement stock.

We count ourselves lucky of course.
 
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Matesrates said:
Mate of mine has two large successful hotels, both freehold and he says he’s been better off closed, with some staff let go, some furloughed, grants and now he’ll get business interruption insurance after the recent court ruling
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Don’t bank on the back street bookie insurance companies paying out court ruling or no court ruling
 
Knock them down and build some state of the art Casinos and a 10,000 seat arena looking out to the sea. Boris is a risk taker make a proposal to him for a special gambling license or whatever it is you need and make the case for a regeneration of the front as a Las Vegas style place. It’d kick start the area and this allied to the piers,pleasure beach, tower, Stanley park etc etc would mean there is something for everyone.
 
At least we've a shiny new cinema to look forward to!!.
A town on its arse, getting kicked in the teeth time after time☹
 
michellebutterflyhotel said:
Well we certainly haven’t been better off whilst closed. Still had to pay all bills and full rent. We’re down over £100,000 and haven’t even received £20k in grants etc. We don’t have furlough as it’s family run. We can’t get our insurance to pay out a penny. Can’t wait to get back to work.
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This is why we as a fan base need to do everything we can to support local businesses when this is over - especially those that have supported getting rid of the old regime UTMP!
 
remember the virus didnt do this. The government measures did it. Im devastated for these people left without a job anymore.
 
Wizzerboy said:
At least we've a shiny new cinema to look forward to!!.
A town on its arse, getting kicked in the teeth time after time☹
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It is with miserable feckers like you who only want to snipe.

A new Conference centre, 5 star Hotel, Museum,Imax cinema best in the North West with bars and Restaurants, Old Yates buildings ready to go, Wilkinsons knocked down with a Holiday Inn, Ibsis being tarted up, Merlin opening a new attraction aimed at young children and more things happening in our town.

A football club with a new owner taking pride in the ground and a new state of the art training ground.

Blackpool is on the up. 👍
 
Hadley said:
My hotel business has benefited from:
Hospitality Grants in excess of £40k
Bounce Back Loan ( Significant sum )
Furlough scheme including my wife and myself via a Limited company payroll.
5% VAT on accommodation
Deferred VAT scheme
Zero Business rates for 2020/2021
High occupancy rates between July and November.

We have no financial issues and have used the downtime to renovate many of our letting bedrooms.

A lot of our stock has perished or gone out of date but the grants etc will cover replacement stock.

We count ourselves lucky of course.
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Apart from a short but busy period last Summer we have not opened our holiday apartments since early 2020. We have received very generous and welcome hospitality grants and are fortunate to have no loans or mortgages. Have also taken the time to renovate and refit apartments. We were planning to reopen for Easter but it looks increasingly unlikely that we will open before early Summer. I appreciate that others are not so lucky but I hope they can keep going because when the Fylde reopens the demand for staycations will be huge. Wishing good luck to all business owners on here.
 
poolseasider said:
It is with miserable feckers like you who only want to snipe.

A new Conference centre, 5 star Hotel, Museum,Imax cinema best in the North West with bars and Restaurants, Old Yates buildings ready to go, Wilkinsons knocked down with a Holiday Inn, Ibsis being tarted up, Merlin opening a new attraction aimed at young children and more things happening in our town.

A football club with a new owner taking pride in the ground and a new state of the art training ground.

Blackpool is on the up. 👍
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Hey up my stalkers back😘👍🏻

A conference centre that's taking an eternity to build.
A new cinema that isn't particularly needed.
The old Yates building, again took for ever to even start developing.
Wilkinson's knocked down for a tram track that's one of the biggest white elephants on the fylde coast.
The only municipal golf course on the fylde sold for peanuts for another 'brilliant development ' dont hold your breath!!
Merlin doing what they're supposed to do entertain their punters.

Totally agree with your view on the football club.
Sometimes it's better to be realistic about what's going on.
I don't know about you but I've lived here 57 years and have seen the decline of the town at an alarming rate over the last 40 years.
A new cinema and shiney new ibis isn't going to change a thing.
 
michellebutterflyhotel said:
Well we certainly haven’t been better off whilst closed. Still had to pay all bills and full rent. We’re down over £100,000 and haven’t even received £20k in grants etc. We don’t have furlough as it’s family run. We can’t get our insurance to pay out a penny. Can’t wait to get back to work.
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Hope thing improve.
 
michellebutterflyhotel said:
Well we certainly haven’t been better off whilst closed. Still had to pay all bills and full rent. We’re down over £100,000 and haven’t even received £20k in grants etc. We don’t have furlough as it’s family run. We can’t get our insurance to pay out a penny. Can’t wait to get back to work.
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Where is your hotel as we are often looking for places to stay when we come up for matches?
 
Look Pool and Wiz, you're both right. The town has been let go over the past few decades and desperately needs a massive cash injection. There are things it needs before hotels and cinemas and Wiz is correct that a go-nowhere tramline is pointless, and destroying Stanley park golf course is blatantly wrong. On the other hand, Blackpool is a tourist town. Without paying visitors it's got nowhere to go. So, world-leading entertainment and leisure facilities, conference centres and, dare I say, casinos will enable the town to progress. Blackpool is unique and has to be treated like a unique place. The prom looks better than it ever has. Now the place needs the next quarter mile inland to be redeveloped. Run down B&Bs should be converted into luxury residential flats, like in Brighton. Incentives should be given to business start-ups to rent and refurbish empty and run down shops in run down streets. Bond Street? Central Drive? Drop a bomb on them and start again. Come on Boris. Northern Powerhouse.
 
tommytwojags said:
Look Pool and Wiz, you're both right. The town has been let go over the past few decades and desperately needs a massive cash injection. There are things it needs before hotels and cinemas and Wiz is correct that a go-nowhere tramline is pointless, and destroying Stanley park golf course is blatantly wrong. On the other hand, Blackpool is a tourist town. Without paying visitors it's got nowhere to go. So, world-leading entertainment and leisure facilities, conference centres and, dare I say, casinos will enable the town to progress. Blackpool is unique and has to be treated like a unique place. The prom looks better than it ever has. Now the place needs the next quarter mile inland to be redeveloped. Run down B&Bs should be converted into luxury residential flats, like in Brighton. Incentives should be given to business start-ups to rent and refurbish empty and run down shops in run down streets. Bond Street? Central Drive? Drop a bomb on them and start again. Come on Boris. Northern Powerhouse.
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Well said only difference is we can see both sides as Wizz is more concerned about a poxy golf club for the few.
 
tommytwojags said:
Look Pool and Wiz, you're both right. The town has been let go over the past few decades and desperately needs a massive cash injection. There are things it needs before hotels and cinemas and Wiz is correct that a go-nowhere tramline is pointless, and destroying Stanley park golf course is blatantly wrong. On the other hand, Blackpool is a tourist town. Without paying visitors it's got nowhere to go. So, world-leading entertainment and leisure facilities, conference centres and, dare I say, casinos will enable the town to progress. Blackpool is unique and has to be treated like a unique place. The prom looks better than it ever has. Now the place needs the next quarter mile inland to be redeveloped. Run down B&Bs should be converted into luxury residential flats, like in Brighton. Incentives should be given to business start-ups to rent and refurbish empty and run down shops in run down streets. Bond Street? Central Drive? Drop a bomb on them and start again. Come on Boris. Northern Powerhouse.
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Without wanting to go off-topic, when you see how easy it's been for the government to fund all sorts at the drop of a hat this year, it does show you that the lack of previous investment in towns like Blackpool is disgusting. And I'd add the rest of the Fylde Coast into the mix here. Look at the area as a small conurbation and you can see so much potential. Most of which is utterly untapped, because the financial support is never there.
 
tommytwojags said:
The prom looks better than it ever has. Now the place needs the next quarter mile inland to be redeveloped. Run down B&Bs should be converted into luxury residential flats, like in Brighton.
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This has already started. The building next door to Yates's at South Shore has been re-developed into luxury apartments, and some signs of this happening on the south side of the Pleasure Beach.

It would be a good idea if something similar is replicated where The Lyndene and St. Chads Hotels are.
 
poolseasider said:
Well said only difference is we can see both sides as Wizz is more concerned about a poxy golf club for the few.
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I can see both sides, I just dont get too excited when promised things.
And yes the proxy golf club for the people of Blackpool AND tourists alike.
What's the problem with this?
Win win eh🤷‍♂️
 
If travel restrictions are still in place this Summer, i wont be wasting my money by going anywhere in UK. For me and my other half it's "the hotter the better".
 
FlytoKavala said:
If travel restrictions are still in place this Summer, i wont be wasting my money by going anywhere in UK. For me and my other half it's "the hotter the better".
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The UK has some fantastic places to visit, just sitting by a pool roasting & supping beer & eating would have me bored stiff after the first day. Each to their own I guess.
 
tommytwojags said:
Look Pool and Wiz, you're both right. The town has been let go over the past few decades and desperately needs a massive cash injection. There are things it needs before hotels and cinemas and Wiz is correct that a go-nowhere tramline is pointless, and destroying Stanley park golf course is blatantly wrong. On the other hand, Blackpool is a tourist town. Without paying visitors it's got nowhere to go. So, world-leading entertainment and leisure facilities, conference centres and, dare I say, casinos will enable the town to progress. Blackpool is unique and has to be treated like a unique place. The prom looks better than it ever has. Now the place needs the next quarter mile inland to be redeveloped. Run down B&Bs should be converted into luxury residential flats, like in Brighton. Incentives should be given to business start-ups to rent and refurbish empty and run down shops in run down streets. Bond Street? Central Drive? Drop a bomb on them and start again. Come on Boris. Northern Powerhouse.
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I car’t see what the problem is with the new tram link, it may be costly yes ! But the visitors are straight off the train and on a tram with luggage, north or south . How many Taxi / congestion journeys will it save . The Tram link should be connected from Fleetwood using the old train line back to Poulton creating an orbital fylde coast link
 
Drove down the prom yesterday to go to the garage and I have to say that some of the hotels on the promenade are in a terrible state of disrepair.
 
clappers said:
They will stay empty until tourism can restart or developers move in. I can’t see -a refurb of these ancient buildings....they much prefer knocking down and building new. Never liked the blue of the Lyndene anyways!
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It's in God's hands but we could do with coming out of Covid restrictions by July, with a cracking, long summer and benign autumn.
 
It's ok, Manchester gets most of the North West redevelopment funding, it's still 95% shit heap mind.
 
Bring Back Standing said:
Sad to see the huge 141 bedroom Lyndene Hotel and neighbouring St.Chads Hotel (another huge promenade hotel), both go into liquidation.

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Its tragic to see our great town and history disappearing before our eyes, good luck to all the hotels and businesses on this difficult journey we can only pray you all get through this.
 
Wizzerboy said:
I can see both sides, I just dont get too excited when promised things.
And yes the proxy golf club for the people of Blackpool AND tourists alike.
What's the problem with this?
Win win eh🤷‍♂️
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Ant news on the golf club Wizzerboy,not seen any park mates since lockdown.
 
todayistheday said:
Ant news on the golf club Wizzerboy,not seen any park mates since lockdown.
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Nah, all gone a bit quiet tbh.
The green keepers have been doing work over the other side of the course (behind the hospital)so bodes well for this season at least as they wouldn't be tending to the course if they wasn't going to use it👍🏻

This could go on for quite some time as the company who now have the land use a business plan that needs a lot of outside investment. This pandemic has put the mockers on that.

We live in hope 👍🏻
 
Sooty59 said:
The UK has some fantastic places to visit, just sitting by a pool roasting & supping beer & eating would have me bored stiff after the first day. Each to their own I guess.
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Sooty59 said:
The UK has some fantastic places to visit, just sitting by a pool roasting & supping beer & eating would have me bored stiff after the first day. Each to their own I guess.
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Stayed at the same place in Thassos for a total of 17 times and never been in the pool with the Aegean Sea being a 5 minute walk away. We tend to wander around no matter how hot it gets although we may have a Mythos on the way to the museum or Costas pottery shop where he will make you a Pythagoras cup for 5 euro which you can collect before you fly home. Also since me and the boss retired, we have been having private tuition to learn Greek having reached intermediate level so that's why we holiday there. 👍
 
FlytoKavala said:
Stayed at the same place in Thassos for a total of 17 times and never been in the pool with the Aegean Sea being a 5 minute walk away. We tend to wander around no matter how hot it gets although we may have a Mythos on the way to the museum or Costas pottery shop where he will make you a Pythagoras cup for 5 euro which you can collect before you fly home. Also since me and the boss retired, we have been having private tuition to learn Greek having reached intermediate level so that's why we holiday there. 👍
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Fair enough, but I can't seem to get my wife to tackle a decent hike in temperatures approaching 35 deg C. I must admit if given the choice of a foreign Hot holiday, that Greece probably tops our list, had some great trips there Lindos/ Pefkos when they did the Rhodes Rock concerts about 10 years ago. TBH we will go abroad again in the future, but it's the UK for the foreseeable. Funnily enough there was a Costas everywhere we went 😁
 
Sooty59 said:
Fair enough, but I can't seem to get my wife to tackle a decent hike in temperatures approaching 35 deg C. I must admit if given the choice of a foreign Hot holiday, that Greece probably tops our list, had some great trips there Lindos/ Pefkos when they did the Rhodes Rock concerts about 10 years ago. TBH we will go abroad again in the future, but it's the UK for the foreseeable. Funnily enough there was a Costas everywhere we went 😁
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As you say there may not be an alternative this Summer but fingers crossed. An interesting fact is that when you address someone called Costas or Nikos you always drop the end letter hence they become Costa, Niko etc.
 
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