The Bell Hotel, Epping

A disappointed migrant sits in his hotel room. England is not as he expected. A bee lodges in his bonnet. He puts pen to paper and troubles the letters page of a London newspaper. Here’s what he has to say:

Homesick

Visiting Hackney after 26 years in New Zealand I was amazed how the area had changed. The streets were dirty, most of the houses were shabby and gaudy (if painted at all). But the big upset of my visit to my boyhood surroundings was that I did not find one family I remembered who still live in my old street. My New Zealand wife now asks if I will ever become homesick again. I replied ‘yes’ always – for New Zealand. Let’s go home soon. – F. King, Bell Hotel, Epping.

This was a near half-century ago. Mr King being an emigrant returning to London and writing of his disappointment from the Bell in Epping, the scene of recent demonstrations and subsequent court action regarding its present-day clientele of illegal immigrants.

The next two letters published alongside his on Thursday, May 20th 1976 in the Voice of London section of the London News, are also illuminating both in their sentiment and in that mainstream fake media would never publish them today.

Asians

Can anyone explain how Asians from Goa, the former Portuguese colony, can possibly be British subjects entitled to settle in Britain? What does the Foreign Office intend to do about the millions of British passport holders in Hong Kong, when it is handed back to China? It clearly states on the last page of a passport that it remains the property of Her Majesty’s government and can be withdrawn at any time – A Thomas, Peregrine Road, Hainault, Ilford.

Trick

This British passport business was the biggest con trick ever pulled on our people – S Ramsay, Holborn Road, Plaistow.

Problem

How about solving two problems at once by letting the Asian immigrants enter Northern Ireland? The Catholics and Protestants will then have a new problem to face – but together – Mrs Hill, Kentish Town.

In the intervening decades of mass uncontrolled unlimited immigration, Mr Thomas’s Ilford, Mr Ramsay’s Plaistow and Mrs Hill’s Kentish Town have become foreign countries in the same way as Mr King’s childhood Hackney.

The Bell Hotel, Epping, is changed too. According to The Telegraph the site has contained a hostelry for 700 years. In 1906, an advertisement appeared in the Epping and West Essex Gazette seeking ‘a good general servant’ with the promise of a ‘good home – Bell Hotel Epping. Good references required.’

Half a century later, a Miss Mary Rose Wilson and a Mr Henry Charles Dodson, a sea wall caterer, married at Epping registry office. Afterwards, according to the Faversham News of the 2nd July 1954, thirty guests attended a reception at the Bell.

Five decades on, in June 2003, we move to another enriched part of the capital, Barnet. From a million-pound semi-detached house, Mr Hassanali Karmali Alibhai Somani and his wife, Mrs Nilufa Hassan Somani, secure a mortgage to purchase the Bell Motor Hotel, High Road, Bell Common, Epping.

Already hoteliers, the company of which the Somanis are the only two directors was incorporated on 21st February 2000 as the White House Hotel (London Gatwick) Limited. The name changed to Classic Hotels (HK) Limited on 28th March 2002 before becoming Somani Hotels Ltd. In 2001, turnover was only £5,000. During the following year that rose but only to £124,000.

The grand-sounding White House Hotel (London Gatwick) was at one time two private houses at 50-52 Church Road, Horley. Since being owned by the Somanis it has changed hands, is part of the Aorora Group and is managed by a Patel family. It scores 2.9 out of 5 on TripAdvisor with 238 out of 801 reviews rating it as ‘terrible’.

By 2023, according to the Boutique Hotelier website, the Somanis were ‘snapping up’ the Aubery Park near St Albans. BH informed its readers that this brought their portfolio to three, the other besides the Bell being Luton’s 44-bed One Mill Street.

BH gushes, ‘Situated in Hertfordshire, Aubrey Park hotel was originally an 18th-century farmhouse and comprises 137 bedrooms, six meeting rooms, a self-contained modern conference facility, fitness space and award-winning restaurant. The grounds also include a 6-acre meadow, surrounded by woodland and a landscaped garden.

Hassan of Somani Holdings, commented: We are delighted to have completed this transaction as strategically, Aubrey fits very well with our existing hotel portfolio. We are pleased to welcome the excellent team at the hotel, expertly led by Rafael Gonzalez, to our group and we look forward to investing in the hotel and staff whilst developing the business further.’

The good people of Luton might not be so delighted, as One Mill Street nowadays shows up on TripAdvisor as ‘permanently closed’. When open, it gained a rating of 2.6 out of 5 with 118 out of 373 reviews labelling it ‘terrible’. Guests pepper their comments with words such as ‘nightmare’ and ‘disgusting’. With the most recent review being in November 2020 and recalling the reference to permanent closure, it would be fair to assume it is now being used for illegal immigrants.

Besides the hotels, the Somanis also invested in care homes. All was not plain sailing. By Feb 2020, their Finecare homes operation was in debt, having made consecutive annual losses of £108,000 in 2020 and £69,000 in 2019. It was liquidated in December 2021. Fincare Homes (Stevenage) continued to trade and is the company that holds the Roebuck Nursing Home in the Hertfordshire town. This hit the headlines in 2016 when Mr Bryant, an 89-year-old war veteran suffering from Alzheimer’s, was kicked out of the care home in a row over a £16,000 bill.

The Daily Mail reported proprietor Nilufa Somani claimed entitlement to the money because of a change in Mr Bryant’s financial circumstances following the death of his wife and the subsequent sale of their former family home. At the time, Mrs Sonami could not be reached by the Mail for comment but claimed that the home was ‘one of the finest purpose-built homes in the country’. However, research by the Daily Mail showed the Care Quality Commission’s latest report found it needed improvement in all areas, including safety and care.

Subsequent research by this reporter shows that in four years, four unannounced inspections found that minimum standards of quality and safety had not been met. Another three inspections took place due to concerns received about the care being received. In at least one of those instances, the Care Commission found breaches in regulation and rated that the service provided by Finecare (Stevenage) required improvement.

Elsewhere, according to The Telegraph, the first illegal immigrants arrived at the Bell Hotel in May 2020. By July, 69 illegals lived on the site. In March 2021, it ceased housing illegal immigrants but began again in October 2022. In February 2023, a planning application asked for a temporary change of use until June 2023 for the hotel to become a hostel for asylum seekers. Again, according to The Telegraph, Essex police objected to the planning permission over security concerns. After several months of no progress, Somani Hotels withdrew the application after its solicitors advised the council that the contract to accommodate asylum seekers would expire on 24th April 2024.

A cynic might note the date to be comfortably before the general election. In February 2025 (a cynic might note just after the general election), Epping Forest District Council received a letter from the Home Office advising the Bell Hotel to become a site to be used for illegal immigrant accommodation. They moved in in April.

Meanwhile, the Sonamis are going from strength to strength. As of February 2024, the company’s declared subsidiaries include Mill Street Hotels (the Luton property), Finecare Homes (Stevenage) Limited, Somani Hotels (St Albans) Ltd, which is Aubery Park, Peacock and Dove Hotels Limited and Somani Hotels (Stevenage) Limited.

The latter refers to the Roebuck Inn. This achieves 3.1 out of 5 on TripAdvisor. Of 151 reviews, 25 rate it as terrible. There is also a Somani Hotels (Croydon).

According to the most recent accounts of the Somani’s holding company for the year ended 28th February 2024, the directors are ‘pleased’ with the group’s financial results. I bet they are! Turnover increased from £7.3 million in 2023 to £11.5 million in the following year. Operating profits rose from £2.7 million in 2023 to £4.2 million. No dividends were paid. Net assets swelled from £15.8 million in 2023 to £18.2 million at the balance sheet date. Rather than pay a dividend, Somani Holdings lends a number of six-figure sums to Mr and Mrs Somani which are ‘repayable on demand’.

Ten months later, in December 2024, the auditors for all the Somani companies, Mantax Lynton, resigned and were replaced by KLSA LLP of Coldbath Square, London. Reference to their website shows that the outfit’s partners are Harsheel Dodhia, Shilpa Chheda, Ketan Shah, Shakunt Shah, Kunal Bharadva and Jaimin Shah. The audit and accounts team are: Bernadetha Mpemba, Mahmood Ladak, Meghna Shah, Harriet Limo, Kush Jain, Lourdes Nicholas and Sumeet Rathod.

While the likes of Messers King, Thomas, Ramsay and Hill turn in their graves, the Asians do rather well out of the present miserable state of affairs, not least as a consequence of mass, uncontrolled, illegal immigration.
 

© Always Worth Saying 2025