A palatial 16th century manor house hotel with four poster beds and a turreted gate house has been housing asylum seekers in luxurious surroundings for more than three years.
The use of historic Madeley Court Hotel as a migrant hotel at the end of a leafy drive in Telford, Shropshire, has been highlighted in recent days by a string of right wing commentators on social media.
The outrage was generated after activists posted a video of themselves marching in to the grounds of the popular wedding and event venue, and confronting security guards who were desperately trying to keep them away.
Many social media users have expressed anger about the Home Office spending a fortune on the up-market hotel while UK pensioners are losing their winter fuel allowance.
Others have dubbed it ‘Britain’s poshest migrant hotel’ with its imposing stone walls, spacious bedrooms with leaded windows, a dining room with a large period inglenook fireplace and a lounge area looking over a lake.
But MailOnline can reveal that the hotel which still has a website boasting about its ‘superb service and cuisine’ has been used to accommodate asylum seekers since early in 2021.
There also appear to be other far grander hotels which have been used for asylum seekers in recent years
They include the Grade One listed Stoke Rochford Hall Hotel & Golf Resort in a former stately home near Grantham, Lincolnshire, which has been likened to Downton Abbey and hosted the Duke and Duchess of Sussex when they attended the wedding of Harry’s cousin Lady Celia McCorquodale in 2018.
The use of historic Madeley Court Hotel as a migrant hotel at the end of a leafy drive in Telford, Shropshire, has been highlighted by a string of right wing commentators on social media
The palatial 16th century manor house hotel with four poster beds and a turreted gate house has been housing asylum seekers in luxurious surroundings for more than three years
The outrage was generated after activists posted a video of themselves marching in to the grounds of the popular wedding and event venue
Many social media users have expressed anger about the Home Office spending a fortune on the up-market hotel while UK pensioners are losing their winter fuel allowance
The estate was the ancestral seat of her father Neil McCorquodale, an uncle to William and Harry, whose wife is Princess Diana’s sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale.
MailOnline can disclose that both the Stoke Rochford hotel and Madeley Court are run by the Talash Group which is owned by brothers Ravi and Sanjay Kathuria from the West Midlands.
The hotel chain signed lucrative contracts with the Home Office to allow contractors to take over both hotels and house asylum seekers who had mostly arrived in the UK on small boats.
The Home Office announced in February this year that it was no longer going to use the Stoke Rochford hotel in line with the former Tory Government’s ambition to transfer migrants to other accommodation.
But while Stoke Rochford is now open for bookings from customers with rooms available at around £175 a night, Madeley Court has continued to house migrants in its rooms with stone walls and wood panelling.
It is believed that three star Madeley Court was initially used to house asylum seekers from Afghanistan with the bulk of them arriving after the Taliban takeover of the war-torn country in August 2021.
Telford & Wrekin Council announced in August last year that it had ‘successfully provided permanent accommodation to all Afghan families placed in Telford’, helping 325 people from Afghanistan to settle into life in the UK.
But the hotel which once advertised its attractions as including croquet and boules in its walled garden with refreshments including champagne, strawberries and homemade lemonade, has continued to provide accommodation for migrants with many of the occupants now said to be from Iraq.
MailOnline can disclose both the Stoke Rochford hotel and Madeley Court (pictured) are run by the Talash Group which is owned by brothers Ravi and Sanjay Kathuria from the West Midlands
Pictured is one of the bedrooms inside the Madeley Court Hotel
Madeley Court has continued to house migrants in rooms with stone walls and wood panelling
It has been dubbed ‘Britain’s poshest migrant hotel’ with its imposing stone walls, spacious bedrooms with leaded windows, a dining room with a large period inglenook fireplace and a lounge area looking over a lake
The hotel chain signed lucrative contracts with the Home Office to allow contractors to take over both hotels and house asylum seekers who had mostly arrived in the UK on small boats
The hotel which still has a website boasting about its ‘superb service and cuisine’ has been used to accommodate asylum seekers since early in 2021
It is believed that Madeley Court was initially used to house asylum seekers from Afghanistan with the bulk of them arriving after the Taliban takeover of their nation in August 2021
Meanwhile the website for the hotel which once sold traditional English afternoon teas is still online, giving a glimpse of how it once provided luxury accommodation to guests, paying around £150 a night for basic rooms.
The website states: ‘Enjoy the peaceful and historical surroundings at the Madeley Court Hotel, Telford, renowned for its superb service and cuisine.
‘The hotel was a 16th Century Manor House and is steeped in history with many original features and characterful decoration.
‘It offers both the facilities of a modern hotel and the ambiance of a beautiful Manor House in countryside surroundings.
‘The conservatory area with resplendent stylish furnishings and a lakeside view makes for the perfect place to relax after a hectic day.’
The hotel includes a spacious outbuilding, known as The Mill for special occasions, weddings and conferences which were once managed by the Mercure hotel chain.
However, Accor which owns Mercure, told MailOnline today that it has not had any involvement in the hotel since 2021.
Describing The Mill which can accommodate parties for 230 people, the website says: ‘We know that your wedding venue is much more than just a setting, it’s a place where memories are made with your closest family and friends. Our team will help bring your special day to life to create a day that you will cherish forever.’
Potential guests who click on the website to check ‘availability’ are simply put through to a message saying that the web reservation system and gift vouchers ‘are not accessible’.
The hotel includes a spacious outbuilding, known as The Mill for special occasions, weddings and conferences which were once managed by the Mercure hotel chain
However, Accor which owns Mercure, told MailOnline today that it has not had any involvement in the hotel since 2021
The hotel’s website describes it as ‘a 16th Century Manor House’ which is ‘steeped in history with many original features and characterful decoration’
The website continues: ‘It offers both the facilities of a modern hotel and the ambiance of a beautiful Manor House in countryside surroundings’
Another section of the website describes the hotel’s rooms, complete with flat screen TVs, as being ‘designed to offer you somewhere that you can really relax in’. The website adds: ‘We can’t quite make it as cosy as your bedroom at home – but we do try our best.’
Iraqi migrant Jasmine Hikami,18, who is staying at Madeley Court with his family praised the standard of accommodation, saying: ‘We love living here and we feel safe.’
But in an exclusive interview with MailOnline, he complained the single room he has to share with his father, aged 42, and younger brother was not ‘big enough for three.’
He added: ‘It is a very good hotel. We are looked after well, we have a nice room and food. We don’t know who pays for it but we don’t need to.’
The teen migrant was speaking out as he was walking along the Castlefields Way path to pick up his 11-year-old sibling, who attends the local school.
He said: ‘We have come from Iran where the war affects us all., We have been here for four months. It is me, my dad and brother and we have to share one room.
‘We would like more space, a bigger room or two rooms but we can’t complain. There are many migrants living here, the rooms are full.
‘There are Iraqi people, like us, and Afghans, and other nationalities who are escaping a war in their country.
‘We are happy to be living here, we love living here, and we feel safe but we think some people here don’t like us and are angry with us.
‘But we need to leave from a dangerous country where we are scared to live. We come to Britain for peace. We feel welcomed by some people but not everyone.’
Potential guests who click on the website to check ‘availability’ are put through to a message saying that the web reservation system and gift vouchers ‘are not accessible’
Iraqi migrant Jasmine Hikami,18, who is staying at Madeley Court with his family praised the standard of accommodation, saying: ‘We love living here and we feel safe’
Mr Hikami told how neither he nor his father were working in the UK but were provided for. He added: ‘I don’t know who helps us but we are thankful. I think it is the British Government.
‘I don’t work but I want to study or get a job. My dad is not working. I help look after my younger brother, he goes to the school near the hotel. I take him there and I go to pick him up.’
He added that the ‘food was good’ and the hotel, tucked away in stunning grounds was ‘very comfortable.’
But many locals are furious that the historic hotel was now a home to migrants.
Rose, the landlady of a pub four miles away, The All Nations Inn at Coalport, said: ‘It used to be a beautiful hotel but it was left to go to ruin.
‘Now it is being all done again for migrants to live there. Not that we have anything against them or are being racist but it has angered a lot of local people.
‘Why are the paying public stopped from going there for our lovely Christmas meal and events as we have always done in the past?’
She told how her family had always celebrated there in the past, saying: ‘We’d always go there for Christmas dinner, it was such a lovely place to visit and now everything has stopped.
‘There are builders in now doing it up and it is swarming with security guards.
‘God knows who is paying for all the work and migrants to stay there. It is probably us, the taxpayer.
‘The hotel owners are clearly getting more money from the Government to house migrants than paying guests.
‘It seems very money grabbing and many people around here think it is a dreadful decision by a big corporate company.
‘None of the locals or visiting guests can go there any more, it is very unfair. The refugees living there must have the poshest migrant hotel in the country.’
Rose told how the hotel, which is very near a primary and secondary school first became a migrant hotel during lockdown.
She and others now refuse to walk past it.
She explained: ‘There is a public right of way through the grounds, which the school kids use but many locals feel intimated if we use the short cut as there are security men everywhere,
‘Also I know people who used to work at the hotel and when migrants moved in they were very rude to the staff so a lot of them have left. The place has been ruined now.’
A pub customer said: ‘We’re not being prejudiced but many locals are devastated we have lost out on a top place to go.
‘It feels wrong to ban the public from a hotel and use it for migrants only.’
The middle-aged man said: ‘Of course asylum seekers need a safe place to live but they should be given proper houses not hotels.
‘Rooms were always expensive, £150 a night, so the hotel chain must be raking in a fortune from their Government contract.’
When a reporter later called the hotel, a receptionist said: ‘We are closed for the foreseeable future. We shut to the public three years ago and are not taking any bookings’
The website for the hotel which once sold traditional English afternoon teas is still online, giving a glimpse of how it once provided luxury accommodation to guests, paying around £150 a night for basic rooms
A local resident, out walking her dog, near the hotel, said: ‘It is a shame a wedding venue and popular hotel has been closed down but I personally don’t have a problem with migrants staying there.
‘It has been closed to the public for some time now and I know it bothers some people, and particularly the people who have lived around here for many years.
‘It is a stunning building and was very popular.’
The woman added: ‘When I walk my dog I often see young children playing outside in the grounds, which is nice to see.’
West Mercia Police said officers were called to hotel on Tuesday to confront a small group filming but they were dispersed without any trouble and there were no arrests.
A force spokesperson said: ‘We received a report in December 3 at around 1.25pm that a group of protesters had arrived at Madeley Court Hotel in Telford.
‘Officers attended and there was not a protest at the hotel but four people were filming outside of the building who left shortly after police had arrived. They left on their own accord.’
When MailOnline tried to speak to the duty manager at the hotel, a security guard firmly stated: ‘You can’t!
He said: ‘You need an appointment to go in. We are not allowed to let any visitors go through the barrier, we are under strict orders.’
The guard, one of several standing outside the blocked off entrance and exit, added: ‘We can only give access to guests staying here and builders working.’
He said the hotel was closed to paying guests and said staff had been sworn to secrecy’ about people staying there.
When a reporter later called the hotel, a receptionist said: ‘We are closed for the foreseeable future. We shut to the public three years ago and are not taking any bookings.’
Calls to the Talash Group by MailOnline went unanswered.
The Government says it wants to put a stop to hotels across Britain being used to house migrants amid public outrage that many are still closed to paying guests.
A Home Office spokesperson told MailOnline today that they are doing everything possible to ‘reduce our reliance on hotels and costs of accommodation’ for refugees.
They 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 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.’
