A hotel firm housing asylum seekers made £700million a year from taxpayers last year. Stay Belvedere Hotels Ltd, which runs 51 UK sites, has been a big winner from the boats crisis. Crossings stand at 9,638 already this year.
Providing rooms for asylum seekers costs £5.5million a day, with 38,000 people housed in around 210 sites. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philip said:
“The taxpayer is picking up the bill for Labour’s loss of control of our borders. “So far 2025 has been the worst year ever for migrants crossing the Channel, who invariably end up in taxpayer-funded hotels or flats. “They should be in Rwanda but Labour cancelled that scheme before it even started.”
One of Stay Belvedere’s hotels has been compared to an all-inclusive resort. It offers entertainers, fitness classes, guitar lessons and fresh meals.
The Ibis Budget in Bishop’s Stortford, Herts, is one of around 210 hotels housing 38,000 asylum seekers at a cost of £5.5million a day. The mostly-male population can choose from a timetable of activities including singing and cookery classes.
English lessons are provided along with a support service for immigration cases. A twice-daily free bus ferries them to town where they spend their £8-a-head weekly allowance — also funded by taxpayers.
