Apparently there’s a proposal to form an action group to increase visitor numbers to the island during the summer, which should be interesting and probably futile. Jersey’s capacity for visitors has diminished drastically over the past forty years, dropping from 40,000+ beds in the early eighties, to just 7,000 now. And those 7,000 now are not cheap. The problem the action group will face is simply that those Hotels remaining, cannot get the staff, are faced with perilous increases in costs, and ultimately are very expensive to stay in. Add to the fact that yet another of the remaining high capacity Hotels, The Mayfair, is as we speak, being demolished.
A few more of the last more popular hotels in Jersey that have bitten the bullet recently in favour of Dandara and other developers include Le Beau Couperon, Almorah Hotel, Les Charrieres, The Portelet, La Tour and many, many more. Also consider those that have gone may end up being replaced by a single dwelling – possibly the fate of The Water’s Edge at Bouley Bay, which if passed by planning would effectively pretty much sell the bay to a high income immigrant. A stomach churning possibility that seems deeply sinister. The Water’s Edge Hotel had possibly the best dining room of all the Hotels in Jersey, with almost floor to ceiling glass looking out over Bouley Bay Harbour, the reefs between Jersey and France and beautiful views of France on the horizon. Now it is destined to become other a single dwelling or 25 homes if plan A fails. The latter option at least allowing some sort of community to remain in the bay.
For a list of over a hundred lost hotels have a look at this blog