The status of a hotel used to house Afghans in Bracknell has been clarified following the death of an armed forces operative in the town.
The Grange Hotel in the town centre has been closed to the public since December 2022.
The hotel is not being used to house asylum seekers.
Instead, it is being used to house people from Afghanistan who have arrived in the UK through government schemes.
These people have been granted indefinite leave to remain and arrived in the country legally.
The status of the hotel has been clarified following the death of First Lieutenant Abdul Wali Mamozai, 33, who was found dead in a car park in Bracknell town centre on Sunday, April 26.
Mr Mamozai, who served as an Afghan special forces operative, was reportedly living at The Grange prior to his death.
A total of five men aged 35, 27, 33, 33 and 20 were arrested as part of a Thames Valley Police investigation into Mr Mamozai’s death, which is being treated as an alleged murder.
The use of the hotel was clarified by Bracknell Forest Council last year.
The then-leader of the council, Mary Temperton, said: “Bracknell Forest does not have any migrant hotels in the borough housing asylum seekers.
“We have transition accommodation run by the Ministry of Defence that is currently home to 194 Afghan people in family groups – they have indefinite leave to remain, so are not asylum seekers, refugees or illegal immigrants.”
This was provided in response to a legal challenge against the use of hotels to house asylum seekers, which ultimately failed at the High Court in October last year and the Court of Appeal in March.
The status of the people who live in The Grange is therefore different from asylum seekers, who arrive in the country unannounced and can be housed in hotels while their claims are processed.
The council received detailed legal advice on the planning status of the hotel and concluded that it was lawful last September.
The Grange has been visited by YouTubers known as ‘auditors’ who attempted to gain access to the hotel but were repelled by security staff.
Videos featuring the hotel have been uploaded by Truth Hurts 101 UK, Laudy Visits and Mitch Media.
Prior to its closure, The Grange received an ‘excellent’ average rating of 8.5 on holiday booking website Agoda.
The latest review, by Nihar, a guest from India in November 2019, states: “Overall – Good value for money. The hotel has a perfect location, very near to the train station and within the shopping complex which has many restaurants and retail outlets. The room size was good and it was clean.
“Room service and staff are good too.”
However, he did state that the “hotel seemed very old.”
