Four-star Nottingham hotel closes its doors just eight months after takeover
A Nottingham hotel has closed its doors less than eight months after it was taken over. In February the Walton Hotel was leased to operator Hotel Lux, which had high hopes of making a premier place to stay alongside a 40-seater restaurant that would be equally appealing to local residents.
The historic hotel, originally a hunting lodge dating back to the early 1800s, has in the past attracted a host of celebrity guests including Bob Hoskins, Lesley Joseph, Christopher Biggins, Callum Best, Michelle Collins, Ray Quinn, and – probably the greatest of them all – none other than 007 himself, Sir Roger Moore.
Located on the edge of the upmarket Park Estate, on the corner of North Road and Derby Road, the privately-owned four-star hotel closed in 2020 during the pandemic and never reopened when restrictions were lifted. It was put on the market for £2m, described as a "prime hotel and development opportunity" but it didn't sell.
One of the directors of Hotel Lux Ltd, which has two hotels in Blackpool, confirmed: "It has closed. It didn't work out. The owner has got it back and they're deciding what happens with it from there."
In the short-time the hotel was open this year there were a number of complaints from The Park residents, about overflowing bins and claims that "bin juice" was leaking from its car park and attracting rats - something disputed by Hotel Lux.
At a licensing hearing in July, residents raised concerns over the noise at the premises, as well as the number of Ubers arriving late at night. The director said: "Because of where it is we had a lot of protests from The Park . We had a lot of objections over our alcohol licence where we had to appeal it all. We didn't have an alcohol licence for however many months. We couldn't open the bar. We only had that granted in July.
"We had issues with the Park Estate moaning about the parking. It was just one thing after another. A group of people just did not want us there. From day dot it has been one issue after another - they protested against us in every shape and form.
"As a student place it would have worked but they're only there so many times of the year and then you don't want hotel guests staying while you've got rowdy students in. It just wasn't going to work."
The hotel's social media accounts and reviews have been suspended but a footprint of one still remains on Google, which said: "DO NOT TOUCH THEM WITH A BARGE POLE. We book a room in advance and 2 days before cancelled as over booked. Then 7 days to get a refund."
A message on the booking.com website reads: "We're sorry, but this property isn't taking reservations on our site right now."