Secret Gidea Park hotel told to close after being spotted on booking websites
Tudor House, which was being used as a hotel until yesterday - Credit: Archant
A secret £40-a-night hotel in an affluent cul-de-sac has been told to close after oblivious neighbours discovered it on booking websites.
Reviews appeared for the hotel on June 2 - Credit: Archant
Tudor House in Beaumont Close, Gidea Park, may look like your ordinary two-star accommodation from the information and photos displayed on an array of sites.
But no planning application was ever made to transform the nine-bedroom, £900,000 home into an 18-bed hotel, and neighbours had no idea until the weekend when they saw the listings.
“Serious fire safety breaches” were found yesterday when Havering Council and London Fire Brigade (LFB) officers visited after being alerted by the angry homeowners.
It is unclear when the hotel opened for business, but it was listed on booking.com on May 29 and the earliest review is dated Tuesday last week (June 2).
Lots of pictures of rooms are shown on booking.com - Credit: Archant
One neighbour particularly annoyed by the situation is 104-year-old Doris Veale, who has lived in Beaumont Close for 57 years.
“It’s awful,” she said. “I can’t believe they opened up a hotel, it’s scary. We’d get all sorts coming here.”
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Another resident, retired city worker Phil Goodyear, 65, said it was a “bloody nightmare”.
“This is a residential close,” he said. “One of the nicest in Gidea Park. You can’t have a hotel down here. There’s nowhere to park for a start.”
Rooms could also be booked on letsbookhotel.com, but the hotel has now been removed from the website - Credit: Archant
The closure is bound to annoy many however, as according to booking.com, the hotel was fully booked until June 26.
A double room was priced at just £40, while a quadruple room was £100.
Reviews for Tudor House have been mixed. Keiren, who stayed there with a partner, called it “disappointing” and yesterday, a Hungarian traveller said it was “fabulous”, rating it 8.8.
It has now been removed from site Lets Book Hotel, while booking.com and hotels.uk.com still list it but without the ability to book a room.
One of the rooms - Credit: Archant
Cllr Osman Dervish, cabinet member for regulatory services, said: “We have told the owner to stop using the property as a hotel as it does not have planning permission. We will continue to monitor the use and take enforcement action if necessary.”
An LFB spokesman said the owners were handed a prohibition notice, which bans the property being used for sleeping accommodation.
Freeholder Amjad Ali told the Recorder: “I know nothing about a hotel because I have rented out the property. I have given an AST [assured shorthold tenancy] and it is being investigated.”
Tudor House is offering a 38pc discount after being told to close by LFB officers - Credit: Archant
