Yahoo News Quirky York hotel to close, blaming competition from Premier Inn
An Independent luxury boutique hotel in York plans to close because it says it cannot compete against the major chains, such as the Premier Inn.
Jonathan and Anthony Burgoyne-Lewis took over the former Bloomsbury Hotel at 127 during the pandemic, with the venue re-opening in December 2020 as The Bishop and Bison B&B just prior to another lockdown.
As the Press previously reported, the couple had lived in the United States for five years, before returning to North Yorkshire in December 2019 specifically to buy and renovate a B&B in York.
The aim was to use Jonathan’s career in hotel sales and Anthony’s financial and interior design background to create a boutique B&B that was unique and gave a pleasurable stay for guests.
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That they achieved, with the quirky venue becoming AA 5-star rated, gaining a TripAdvisor Travellers Choice Award in 2022 and a Visit York Tourism Award in 2023. The property was also nominated for a York Press Business Award in 2021.
TripAdvisor currently rates it 5-stars across the board, making it 4th out of 180 York B&Bs on the reviews website. Google gives it 4.9 stars and Booking.Com rates it 9.5, declaring it ‘exceptional.’
However, their application to change the use of the B&B into a single home says the couple are in the process of selling the property. Savills currently has it on the market for £1.24million, compared to the £870,171 online records show they paid in July 2020.
(Image: pic supplied)
Planning documents say they seek to restore the B&B into a single private address, with the end terrace, erected in 1875 “not altered structurally or cosmetically in any way.”
The application says changing the use of the 8-bed B&B back to residential “perhaps further enhances the property and its residential character. It would bee more in keeping with the Conservation area.”
In addition: “The city has recently given planning permission for a large 188-bed Premiere Inn to be opened in the city centre. In all honesty, as a bed and breakfast outside the city centre, we would struggle to compete with these properties on price.”
The popular property appears to be booked out according to Booking.com until Wednesday July 10, when a small double room can be had for £145. That new Premiere Inn in Layerthorpe, which opened last week, has a standard room available that night for £100.
The application further argues that Air B&Bs operate in the area and the loss of the rooms would not impact on the number of beds available in the city.
It added the couple has received interest from a buyer who would like to move in before September, but until contracts were exchanged, the property would continue to operate as a B&B.
City of York Council has yet to determine the application.
