Blackpool's Art B&B to close as 'not enough future bookings'

The Promenade venue will continue to host workshops and shows scheduled for October and November and will be seeking a new operator.

It opened in 2019 after Blackpool Council bought the former Ocean Hotel between Banks Street and Springfield Road for £203,000 in 2016.

The b&b, which employed 11 people, was run as a community interest company by arts project Left Coast as part of efforts to stimulate Blackpool’s artistic community.

A post on the Art B&B Facebook site says: “We are sorry to announce that from 31st October, Art B&B will close its hotel operation.

“Due to the current economic climate, there are not enough future bookings to guarantee sustaining it in its current form, so we are now seeking a new operator.

“We will honour existing workshops and shows scheduled into Space B throughout October and November.

“However, we are extremely proud of what we have been able to accomplish as a community interest company (CIC), and are pleased to say that we have managed to fulfil all of the objectives from our original funders and supporters.”

Left Coast raised £1.3m towards the Art B&B project from funding sources including the Coastal Communities Fund and Arts Council England, Community Business Fund, Tudor Trust and the Clore Duffield Prize Fund.

It also received £73,000 from the government’s £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund during the Covid pandemic.

Coun Tony Williams, leader of the Conservative group on Blackpool Council, has called for a full investigation into why the project has failed.

He said: “The blame of course will be aimed at Covid, but with the government support funding and resilience dozens of other hotels on the Prom have survived.

“Public money from the Arts Council and Blackpool Council went into funding this hotel which could have supported more aesthetic and sustainable art related projects.

“If you add those funds to the amount of debt the hotel has created the real picture becomes very serious.”

The Art B&B says more than 10,000 guests have stayed in its rooms, which were each designed as unique art installations, while work was commissioned from more than 30 artists.

A Blackpool spokesperson said: “We are saddened that Art B&B is closing its hotel operation.”The council has supported this initiative from the outset, both in terms of the purchase of the original property, and a loan which formed a minority part of the overall capital investment

"Ultimately, the closure of the hotel is a commercial decision of Art B&B as a separate community interest company.”We believe that the hotel asset remains of a very high standard and will prove attractive to any future owner, hence we are happy to work with Art B&B to achieve its market potential.”

The original deal saw the council lease the property to the community interest company set up by Left Coast at a rate of £10,000 a year, giving the council a 5.3 per cent annual yield on its investment.