Apollo Hotel’s final visitors to check out as business closes

Apollo Hotel, St Saviour's RdPicture: JON GUEGAN. (34685802)

A HOTEL in St Helier which thrived during the Island’s tourism heyday will close its doors this weekend.

The final guests are due to check out of the Apollo on St Saviour’s Road tomorrow morning, with the building set to be demolished to make way for housing developed by Dandara.

The 84-bedroom hotel has been owned by the Huggler Group since the 1980s, when the Apollo and adjacent Lincoln Hotel were combined.

Owner Lawrence Huggler said that the building would be cleared next week and that he expected its sale to Dandara to be finalised on 25 November.

He said: ‘No one likes shutting a business, but the building is at the end of its life and has reached the stage where it needs to be pulled down.

‘We’ve seen the development of two Premier Inns in St Helier and that’s inevitably had an effect on the three-star market.’

Mr Huggler said the closure had had minimal impact on jobs, with some older employees retiring after staying with the business beyond their pension age, and other members of staff taking new roles at the group’s other venue in St Helier, the Club Hotel and Spa.

In addition to focusing on that business, Mr Huggler said the group was seeking new opportunities in the hotel sector.

Planning permission for Dandara’s development at the site was granted in March after an initial application for 95 units was scaled down to 78 and the height of the development reduced.

The closure comes a year after the final guests left the nearby Mayfair Hotel, with that site also being developed for housing. Other St Helier hotels to have closed recently include the Stafford and Revere in Kensington Place.

– Advertisement –
– Advertisement –