Despite rumours that it will be care home or house refugees, owners confirm Ettington Chase Hotel will remain not in use

THE Ettington Chase hotel currently sits empty and forlorn.

At once point a thriving wedding and conference venue praised for its 11 acres of landscaped gardens, the 130-bedroom hotel has been closed since 2021. More recently, speculation has been rife about its future.

One commentator on a Ettington Facebook group said that they had heard it was definitely going to be turned into a care home. While for a long time many have suggested it would house asylum seekers.

However, a spokesperson for owners The Venues Collection told the Herald that it would remain permanently closed.

They said: “Ettington Chase Hotel has been permanently closed since summer 2021, it will remain closed for the foreseeable future.”

Rumours around the time of its closure suggested that Covid had hit the hotel badly – with conferences and weddings unable to go ahead.

Another Facebook user posted that the Compass Group had been given the contract to care for the site of the hotel – and that they had spoken to one of the workers.

“He said that the building is currently in a state of disrepair having been empty since March 2020,” reported the commentator. “The roof and pool are both leaking. Also the heating system is red diesel which is now illegal.”

Perhaps surprisingly, Ettington Chase’s very attractive red-brick Victorian gothic manor house is not a listed building.

But it has always been overshadowed for grandeur by its near neighbour the Ettington Park Hotel, which has a rich lineage going back to medieval times. The largely 19th century manor is Grade I-listed.

Further down the road is the Grade II* Thornton Manor. The historic 16th-century house and farm buildings is in the process of being converted into a luxury boutique hotel by the Pig chain of hotels, and expected to open in 2026.