Closure of historic Hampshire wedding venue leaves out-of-pocket guests demanding answers
A 17th century country house operating as a wedding venue has closed, leaving one bride-to-be facing a cancelled honeymoon and £4,500 down the drain.
Botleigh Grange, a 55-bedroom hotel and spa in Hedge End, has closed after its owner, Botleigh Grange Limited, went into administration on Monday, January 13.
Administrators Leonard Curtis said the venue had been affected by ‘reporting on health and safety issues’ – after it received a one out of five food hygiene rating in November.
But customers have reported being left in the dark by the hotel’s management company, Addison Way, which is not in administration,
Sasha Miles paid the company £5,500 so 250 guests could enjoy a three-course meal and finger buffet at her wedding this May – but now she could walk away empty-handed.
The 23-year-old said: ‘I heard nothing from the venue.
‘I saw rumours on Facebook and I tried to call them but I couldn’t get through. So I went rushing over there, and I spoke to someone from the administrators.
‘I want to know – where has my money gone?’
Addison Way is working to offer a full refund, the director of the company, Mia Gerber, told Sasha in a Facebook message seen by The News.
The hotel generated sales of £1.78m, excluding VAT, for the year ending May 2019.
Without insurance and facing uncertainty around her own wedding’s finances, Sasha has cancelled her honeymoon to Majorca.
The mum-of-three said: ‘I'm furious – this has been so stressful.
‘I wish we had never planned a wedding.’
Leonard Curtis is hoping to find the hotel a buyer who would honour existing bookings, according to a spokesman from the administrators.
He said: ‘Whilst every effort is being made to find a buyer that would be willing to honour any current bookings at the hotel, this cannot be guaranteed.
‘If you have already booked an event at the venue, do not hesitate to contact us for an update on the sales process
‘We have been advised that MacDonald Botleigh Park and Spa in the area may be able to accommodate some bookings.’
The hotel’s previous owner Daniel James O’Doherty, who has been the director of 21 companies as well as Botleigh Grange Limited, served as a director of Addison Way in 2018.
In the same year, one of his firms was ordered to pay more than £100,000 to former staff following the collapse of the Chesterfield Hotel in Derbyshire.
Representatives from Addison Way declined to comment.