What was claimed
The Duke of Cornwall hotel in Plymouth has been confirmed as an asylum hotel.
Our verdict
False. Plymouth City Council has said that no asylum seekers are being housed in hotels in Plymouth and no hotels in the city are being prepped for this purpose. The hotel says there is “no truth to the rumours”.
False claims that a historic Plymouth hotel has closed for refurbishment, in order to house asylum seekers, have been circulating on social media.
A post on Facebook claimed that the Duke of Cornwall hotel had been “confirmed” as an “ASYLUM HOTEL”, with a caption adding: “The luxurious Duke Of Cornwall Hotel has had a quick refurbishment ready for the new undocumented, unvetted illegal entrants that have now arrived there!!”
Another post on Facebook also implied the same claim.
But this has been confirmed as false by both the hotel and Plymouth City Council.
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In a 26 March post on its own Facebook page, the hotel wrote that it is “currently temporarily closed to undertake an essential improvement project”, and would be reopening to guests in the summer.
“In light of recent misinformation that’s been shared online, we would like to confirm that there is no truth to the rumours about the hotel opening as an asylum hotel,” the statement added.
Full Fact contacted Plymouth’s local authority about the claims, which pointed us to a statement it published online, which described them as “fake news”.
“We have seen that there are rumours spreading online about a hotel in the city that is currently closed that is apparently ‘being prepped’ to be a hotel for asylum seekers,” the council said. “There are no hotels in the city, open or closed being prepped for this purpose.”
It also added that there are no hotels in the city being used as asylum hotels.
It previously stated on its website that as of August 2025, asylum seekers were only accommodated in privately rented “self-contained properties” such as flats and houses, and not in hotels.
We contacted the account originally making the claim asking if it had any evidence. We didn’t receive a response.
A local media outlet also reported that it had visited the hotel, and did not find anything to substantiate the claims.
We’ve written many times about false claims relating to immigration, and explained the asylum backlog and the benefits asylum seekers are entitled to.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as false because the hotel says the rumour isn’t true and the local council has said no hotels in the city are being prepped for asylum seekers or being used as asylum hotels.
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Subscribe to weekly email newsletters from Full Fact for updates on politics, immigration, health and more. Our fact checks are free to read but not to produce, so you will also get occasional emails about fundraising and other ways you can help. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy.