Controversial hotel to close its doors weeks after announcing Scarlets partnership

Stephen Price

A Welsh hotel which made headline news following unrest over plans to house asylum seekers at the venue has shut down ‘with immediate effect’.

Stradey Park, Llanelli, became the centre of a series of protests in summer 2023, which eventually led to the Home Office shelving plans to place asylum seekers inside.

Only last month, the venue was announced as the official accommodation partner for the Scarlets rugby team.

While no official announcement has been made, the hotel is reported to have shut down with immediate effect – and it is not possible to make reservations.

All dates on the hotel’s reservation system are blocked out until next February, with a message reading “no arrival” flashing up for those who try to select a date.

Controversially, following a community campaign that opposed the Home Office’s plan to convert the hotel into asylum seeker accommodation, the cause was hijacked by far right group, Voice of Wales who were said to have used foul language, pushed a racist agenda and intimidated politicians and campaigners.

As reported by Martin Shipton, Voice of Wales, located in Swansea and run by convicted fraudster Dan Morgan and fellow activist Stan Robinson, who once advocated castrating veteran broadcast journalist Adam Boulton with a rusty blade, fuelled community tensions when they piggy-backed on a local group that opposed a plan for Llanelli’s most prominent hotel to be house asylum seekers.

Far-right activists from far afield descended on Llanelli, stirred up racial hatred, welcomed the serial criminal who uses the alias “Tommy Robinson”, and intimidated a former newspaper editor who was involved in a community-based campaign that opposed the proposed use of the Stradey Park Hotel for non-racist reasons such as the loss of local jobs and employment opportunities.

Appeal for calm

In June 2023, Dyfed-Powys Police appealed for calm following an escalation of activity by protestors at the Stradey Park Hote

On Monday (14 August) police received a report that criminal damage had been caused to a vehicle used by a contractor employed by the hotel while he was driving away from the premises.

A man has was later arrested and charged with this offence.

Protesters gained access on the evening of August 15 2023 and, according to police, behaved in “an intimidating manner”. Police spoke of a “concerning escalation of behaviour” by some protesters, and an order is in place providing officers with the power to order people to remove balaclavas or similar face-covering clothing. Speaking in August, Llanelli MP Dame Nia Griffith said “recent disturbances” had been terrifying for residents. “Of course, people have the right to peaceful protest, but this sort of lawlessness does nothing to further the cause, gives Llanelli a bad reputation and is a nightmare for local residents,” she said.

In October 2023, the hotel hit headlines again as motorcyclists and protesters on foot, including one dressed as a traffic cone, occupied the grounds of Llanelli’s Stradey Park Hotel where the Home Office plans to locate up to 240 asylum seekers.

Footage on social media showed dozens of people in the hotel’s main car park and at the top of the steps outside its reception area on October 1 following a protest motorcade in the town.

In a video taken at the protest, a man was heard saying those involved were standing up for what they believed in and “saying no to illegal immigrants”.

Some protesters covered their faces, others were in fancy dress. This led to the bizarre sight of a small group, including one dressed up as traffic cone and another as a daffodil, doing a conga in front of the hotel entrance.

The Home Office said at an online meeting in August 2023 that it appreciated there were “strong concerns from the local community”.

A spokeswoman said: “A careful and considered plan to move asylum seekers to the hotel in a phased approach is being worked on closely with local partners to ensure arrangements are safe for hotel residents and local people. The Home Office has a legal obligation to support asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute.” At the time, its agents, Clearsprings Ready Homes Ltd, said the hotel wouldn’t house asylum seekers until it was signed off as safe to do so.

The controversial proposals for the four-star spa hotel were revealed in May 2023. At that point it looked like the first of the asylum seekers would start arriving from early July. Protests began and legal bids to stop the plans were submitted by Carmarthenshire Council.

Although the legal action was unsuccessful, no asylum seekers arrived. However, almost 100 jobs were lost as a result of the hotel closing before it was effectively taken over on the ground by Clearsprings Ready Homes.

The hotel found itself in the news again in 2026, when Reform UK supporters reacted with rage as Llanelli Labour MS Lee Waters pointed out that Nigel Farage’s choice for Shadow Chancellor had ignored local people’s concerns about a proposal to open an asylum hostel in the town.

Mr Waters posted a message on his Facebook page that said: “People who back Reform in Llanelli will be voting to put back into government the Tory Minister who wanted to use the Stradey Park Hotel as an asylum hostel.

“As Home Office Minister at the time Robert Jenrick dismissed local opposition and would not listen to reason. He REFUSED to meet with our local MP Nia Griffith to listen to local concerns.

“And that’s who Reform want to make Chancellor of the Exchequer. If you vote Reform that’s what you’ll be supporting.”

Only last month, the hotel was celebrating the news that the Scarlets were to use Stradey Park Hotel as the club’s Official Accommodation Partner, “strengthening the connection between the region’s professional rugby team and one of Llanelli’s most established hospitality venues”.

The partnership was set to see Stradey Park Hotel provide “high-quality accommodation for club guests, and supporters, while also collaborating with the Scarlets on exclusive matchday hospitality experiences and supporter packages”.

“Half-baked plan”

Llanelli town councillor Shaun Greaney said: ‘The blame for the closure of the Stradey Park Hotel rests firmly with the previous national Conservative Government.

‘They came up with the controversial half-baked plan to foist refugees into the heart of Furnace, effectively forcing the closure of Llanelli’s most prestigious four star plus hotel, with the loss of almost 120 jobs.

‘The impact on the Carmarthenshire economy at that time was put at around £8 million a year. The policing bill alone for the ensuing commotion and protest came to £500,000.

“Llanelli Labour MP Dame Nia Griffith and local Labour councillors were prominent campaigners against the Conservative Government plan for more than 200 asylum seekers at the hotel.

“Dame Nia publicly challenged Home Office Minister Robert Jenrick – who is now Reform’s Shadow Chancellor – in Parliament. He ducked and dived, refusing to answer her questions and to answer her call to meet with local residents to hear their concerns.

“Now with the Hotel’s latest closure, and the sudden, sad loss of jobs, it is another disaster for Llanelli, the blame for which rests firmly at the door of Right wing politicians who care not a jot for Welsh communities.

“This is their awful legacy and I hope the public will not forgive them nor forget that fact.

‘The national Labour government has announced that it is moving away from the Tory policy of housing asylum seekers in hotels, so any suggestion the hotel could be used in such a way is pure scaremongering.”