Horsham's only town centre hotel has been closed since 2004 and its future is still uncertain. Not only is it unsightly; instead of acting as a bridge between Carfax and East Street, encouraging shoppers to explore the town it is a blight on the townscape. The Society has always maintained that the listed status of this landmark building must be respected and would strongly oppose any move to change its outward appearance.

Planning permission was granted for conversion from 42-bed hotel to 17-bed hotel plus shops, restaurants & offices but, despite occasional rumours of an impending sale, this never materialised and most of the building remains boarded up. 

In 2008 the Society urged the Council to acquire the site through compulsory purchase and in our view this still remains an option.

Part of the site in East Street has been converted into a Cote restaurant. Following the refurbishment of East Street this old building looks even more forlorn than before.

 We now understand that an ASK restaurant will be taking the main part of the building but despite successful planning applications work has been slow to get under way.  Hopefully this important landmark will be back in use before too much longer