A well known Hampshire hotel is to close, it has been revealed today.

The operators of Lyndhurst Park Hotel have announced that they plan to close the 59-bedroom hotel in the New Year.

A period of consultation with staff is currently underway.

Located on the High Street in the centre of the New Forest village, St James’s Hotel Group acquired the three-star hotel after the collapse of the parent company Forestdale in March this year.

In a statement the owners of the hotel, which employs 13 full-time staff plus eight casual staff, said it has been making losses.

Daily Echo:

The statement added that an offer has been made to purchase the four acre site for redevelopment but did not say who the new owners of the site will be.

“Unfortunately, the hotel has continued to lose money this year. It is an old building in a poor state of repair which would require huge amounts of further investment to bring it up-to-date and give it a viable future as a hotel, “said Nicholas Crawley, managing director of St James’s Hotel Group.

“We have, therefore, accepted an offer for the purchase of the site which is likely to result in the total redevelopment of the site and the opening of some new type of serviced holiday accommodation.

“We have already informed all staff that their current positions will cease to exist and we are working with them to find alternative roles within the group where possible.

"The hotel benefits from a loyal staff and we will do all we can to support them in their search for alternative employment, although we can’t rule out the possibility of some redundancies.”

He added: “In terms of future bookings, we have now contacted all customers affected by the decision and we are liaising with them to move their events to other hotels within the St James’s Hotel Group in nearby Burley and Winchester in the hope of causing customers as little disruption as possible.

“While it is sad to see the demise of this landmark hotel, it enjoys a prominent location at the entrance to the New Forest and we believe that the redevelopment of the site will bring major benefits to the town.”

St James’s Hotel Group has unconditionally exchanged contracts with the purchaser and completion is expected early next year.