Seafront hotel opened in 1939 has become empty ‘eyesore’ after ‘Saudi owners let it fall into disrepair’

Weymouth’s Riviera Hotel, a Grade II-listed seafront landmark, has stood empty since storm damage in 2022 and is deteriorating. South Dorset MP Lloyd Hatton has urged the Government to help secure a sale and consider compulsory purchase as a last resort, saying the building should return to local hands.

The hotel opened in 1939 and was sold to its current owners, Saudi-linked hospitality business Difaya Group, in 2009 for £3.5 million. It failed to find a buyer after being listed for £5.5 million in 2020 and later for £5 million in 2021; Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook has agreed to meet Hatton and says councils have powers to protect heritage buildings. The hotel was added to the Twentieth Century Society’s Buildings at Risk Register in 2023.