'Clear up the mess!' Anger at council as Grosvenor Hotel site is left to rot

BristolLive reporter Alex Driscoll recently explored the area around Bristol Temple Meads and was less than impressed. "Walking out of the main entrance, heading towards the city centre and Broadmead, there is plenty to see and point out to your loved ones."

However, he remarks that the scene is marred by the 'half-demolished eyesore hotel which had stood there for the best part of 2024'. Now BristolLive readers have been sharing their views on the site in our comments section.

He goes on to point out that the Grosvenor, which was once a grand Victorian hotel has been left to rot away. After catching fire in 2022, the building has been nothing more than a desolate waste ground, with half-hearted demolition attempts in February only making it worse.

Closed since 1993 and after temporarily housing homeless families, the hotel site remains untouched. The standstill appears to be the result of a stalemate between Bristol City Council and the hotel’s owner Nimish Popat.

While the council wants to demolish and secure the building and has indicated that they will use a Compulsory Purchase Order to acquire the property, very little progress has been made, leaving the still standing extension an embarrassing mess.

Alex ends with a call to action: "It’s time to stop the madness."

Commenter Susiep says: “We should not expect the council to clear up the mess.”

RodneyGlobeTrotter complains: “If you want to get Bristol Council to do anything, it’s like pushing water uphill. They can rename the Colston Hall at a massive cost, they are going to revamp the city centre fountains at a massive cost (and take years to do it). Yet they are cutting grass in November whilst roads deteriorate to a stage where it will take 10s of years to repair.”

Lee Turner says: “It’s the council's fault it still looks like that. The owners have applied for planning to turn into flats several times over the last decade, but council has rejected it every time. Since it burnt out, now the courts can issue a CPO, which means the owners have to sell it to them.”

Russell Edwards replies: “The council were talking about compulsory purchasing it a few years ago, but nothing came of it.”

IfanJoroc says: “BCC should just knock it down and deal with the consequences later. Also, what’s going to happen to the petrol station that’s been boarded up and left just across the road that has also been derelict for years? It’s painful to see the lack of anything being developed or built, years and years after it’s announced (Mary Le Port comes to mind), when the likes of Cardiff can have a brand new area built by the train station and the canal reopened at the same time. Embarrassing.”

Susan King thinks: “This should have gone to court a LONG time ago, decades.”

Tomcorbett1 replies: “Yes it's frustrating, added to St Mary Le Port stagnation, nothing has happened for years, even though they have the planning permission. Also Debenhams - they have the go ahead with nothing being done. Premier Inn Hotel still standing. I have really given up. All other stations in the UK developed, Liverpool Lime St, Glasgow Central, Birmingham, Temple Meads in how many more years?”

Claire Portlock thinks: “It’s a shame the hotel was allowed to become so dilapidated before it burned down. The architecture of the building was nice, unlike the bland box most builds are these days. I wish it had been restored and reused before the fire, the stupid thing is the crappy extension survived and is still standing.”

How do you feel about the Grosvenor site? Is it time something was done? What would you like to see in its place? Have your say in our comments section.