The Urban Hotel in Grantham, previously used as accommodation for Afghanistan refugees, undergoes major revamp

A new management team hopes to “bring the community back” to a hotel previously used as accommodation for refugees.

The Urban Hotel in Swingbridge Road, Grantham, is undergoing a complete refurbishment of its leisure club, salon, swimming pool, gym and restaurant, as well as improvement works on rooms.

Previous owners faced criticism from the public, after the four-star hotel was used as accommodation for people fleeing from Afghanistan, resulting in room and wedding cancellations. A new team took over the hotel in August but it is not known when the refugees moved out.

Operations manager Danielle hopes the new team can “bring back the community” to support the hotel, following past criticism.

She said: “We are aware that some people hold certain opinions towards the hotel. We want to bring it back and get people back to visit.

“I am not phased by past comments. We are a new team and although we hold the name, we are a new business.

“It is the small few that make comments, but it had nothing to do with us.

“We are listening to what Grantham wants. We are a new team and we want to provide the people with what they want.

“We are going above and beyond to bring back what the hotel once was and move away from what happened.”

Rooms can still be booked at the hotel, but the restaurant, gym, leisure club and salon are due to reopen on Friday, November 1.

Danielle also hopes the hotel can eventually be used for weddings again.

She added: “We have also offered jobs back to people in the area and plan to have a big recruitment drive.”

It was announced in 2021 that The Urban Hotel would be used as accommodation for Afghanistan refugees, after a contract was agreed with the Home Office.

Last year, South Kesteven District Council was awarded funding of nearly £1.5 million to relocate those living in the hotel.

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