Coast & Country Hotel Collection closes two hotels for winter

The Coast & Country Hotel Collection, which operates nine properties in the south-west, has temporarily closed two hotels due to "troughs in trade" in the winter months.

The Ship & Castle in St Mawes, Cornwall and the Valley of the Rocks hotel in Lynton, Devon stopped trading on 4 November, and it is understood that plans are in place for them to reopen in the spring.

It comes after several other hospitality businesses, including the Hog Hotel in Suffolk, revealed plans to close and ‘hibernate' for the winter amid soaring costs.

A spokesperson for the collection said it employed a large number of seasonal workers during the summer and 48 had left the business in recent weeks due to a fall in guest numbers during the winter.

The spokesperson added: "In addition, we have managed to relocate non-seasonal staff, apart from the lay-off of three staff. Different from redundancy, lay-off is where the staff member is informed they have no work for a temporary period – but with a view to coming back into the business once conditions allow."

The spokesperson also confirmed that there has been "two redundancies across the group", contrary to a report from Cornwall Live that the collection had let go "hundreds" of staff.

In a letter addressed to staff quoted by Cornwall Live, the general manager of the Ship and Castle Hotel in St Mawes wrote: "Business over the coming months remains very quiet and due to the lack of business the hotel will close for the winter months and because of this I do not have work for you."

A spokesperson for the collection clarified: "The speculation about hundreds of jobs being lost across our portfolio is totally false. As a business, we're in robust shape and are already planning ahead for a busy 2023."