This Is Guernsey

By Joel de Woolfson

THE Vazon Bay Hotel is up for sale after its owner was refused permission to change it to sheltered housing.

George Wilkinson, managing director of Guernsey Sheltered Housing Group Ltd, felt he had been left with no alternative but to sell the property after the application for change of use was turned down.

‘The Environment Department refused us because Commerce and Employment want it retained as a hotel, despite the fact it’s all gone belly-up,’ he said. The hotel was closed in December after leaseholder Alan Jackson and his company, Arete Holdings Ltd, ran out of money.

It has been on the market for a couple of months without attracting any firm interest.

The hotel is valued at £1.7m.

‘We have not exactly been inundated with enquiries,’ he said.

‘We had made a previous application for change of use a year ago and that was refused because it was considered premature due to a planning inquiry.

‘They wanted to wait until after the review. But all the indications at the time were that they didn’t want to retain it as a hotel, but now they do, so we have to accept their decision.

‘We have to try and see if there is anyone out there who wants to buy the freehold from us to run it as a hotel.’

Mr Wilkinson said that if he could not find a buyer, he would ask Environment and Commerce and Employment to reconsider their decision.

Carla McNulty Bauer, deputy Commerce and Employment minister, said the department had not supported the application for change of use primarily because the hotel is next to a very good beach.

‘The issue for consideration isn’t what the proposed new use of the site would be, it’s about whether the site could still play a part in the visitor economy,’ she said.

‘The Vazon Bay is in a spectacular location on one of the best beaches on the west coast. Unfortunately, it has suffered from a lack of investment in recent years, which is the owner’s decision, but this doesn’t justify losing one of the best located hotels in the island to non-visitor use.’

She said there had been significant re-investment in the hotel industry during the last year, with substantial refurbishment taking place.

‘This kind of investment shows a confidence in the future which Commerce and Employment shares,’ she said.

‘The department would hope that a suitable purchaser with a commitment to the visitor sector will take over the Vazon Bay and turn it into the kind of success the site deserves.’