A CALL for a clampdown on new hotels in York has come from one of the city’s top hoteliers, sparking counter claims from developers and tourism chiefs.

Jeremy Cassel, of The Grange in Clifton, warned of already too much ruthless undercutting between hotels competing for customers and skilled staff and predicted that many establishments will collapse.

Calling for a moratorium on new hotels by City of York planners, Mr Cassel, managing director of the four-star 36-bedroom Georgian building, said: “As The Grange is one of the competing hotels, you would expect me to say that, wouldn’t you?

“But if you look at the TripAdvisor website you will see evidence of that undercutting as the customer base shrinks and the work pool from which we draw our skilled staff diminishes.”

His controversial remarks come in the wake of an announcement of the prospect of a £10 million project to demolish Holgate Villas and replace it with a 97-bedroom hotel in Holgate Road.

He described as “bunkum” the claim that the proposal would help meet “the current large demand” for hotel accommodation in York.

He said: “The city is totally oversaturated and it can only lead to tears at bed time.

“Somebody eventually has to observe publicly that the king has no clothes and that the sector has major problems.

“I urge the city council’s planners to study carefully any future schemes and there are too many proposals around to be comfortable. I know that banks are waiting for the economy to improve before putting pressure on hoteliers for the return of loans and overdrafts.

“I believe then we shall see a succession of failures on the same scale as we experienced in the city in the 1990s when among numerous victims were the former Viking Moat House – now the Park Inn – the Royal York, the Crest Hotel and Fairfield Manor, all of them thankfully resurrected under new ownership.

“We ourselves barely escaped being swept away at the time, and now I see all the same elements in place and we should take care.

“We are doing all right and can cope. We have proved that time and again and this downturn is no different, but we need to protect those hotels which are on the verge from the reflex to turn any building into a large hotel. There are simply too many bedrooms already in York.”


Hotel chains’ reaction

JOHN Reeves, project co-ordinator for the Villas Venture consortium said there still appeared to be significant demand from major chains to take hotels in York.

He said: “We understand York has one of the highest occupancy rates in the country and possibly those hotels which don’t succeed – and that is the nature of business – will be those who don’t satisfy the demand.

“Unfortunately, in lean times, people tend to stay in the cheaper hotels.

“What could be better than to convert a 1960s building like Holgate Villas which has come to the end of its natural life, into an hotel right next to the railway station?”

Gillian Cruddas, chief executive of Visit York said her organisation was keen to listen to concerns.

She said: “It is important that any new developments in York are carefully monitored, which is the role of the city of York council planning department. We agree it is important to protect the mix of quality historic house hotels, modern value hotels and York’s popular bed and breakfasts. Investment in the city, however, is crucial to generate employment and it is good news that York’s tourism sector is flourishing. “Applications for new developments show great confidence in York’s tourism industry and the continuing strength of York as Britain’s favourite city destination.”