What Happened to Hotel Continental After The Hotel Inspector?

The Hotel Inspector (Channel 5) visited the Hotel Continental in Harwich, Essex, in the episode “Hotel Continental, Harwich,” which aired 2016-06-15. Wikipedia's list of episodes describes a quirky 14-bedroom hotel overlooking the beach, with individually designed rooms. A Google Places entry gives the address as 28-29 Marine Parade, CO12 3RG, in the Dovercourt part of Harwich.

An article in the Gazette gave the hotel's history. It reported that Gordon and Blossom Hoyle owned the hotel from 1996 to 2016, that each of the 14 rooms had been turned into a one-off themed design, and that the couple tried television exposure to attract guests, including Channel 4's Four in a Bed in 2012 and The Hotel Inspector in 2016. According to the Gazette, Mr. Hoyle said the Hotel Inspector exposure came “too little, too late.” The Gazette also reported that the hotel was valued at about £450,000 and was offered through £1,000 raffle tickets, that too few were sold, and that the hotel closed in 2016.

The same Gazette article reported that a developer, Andy Little, planned to restore the building and reopen it, with no design, timeline or cost given.

The Gazette's pages carry publication dates of 16 May 2021 for its history article and 11 May 2021 for a report headlined "Hotel Continental, Dovercourt, is back in business". That second report said Andy Little, a director of Space Apartments, was refurbishing the building to offer eight two-bedroom apartments with sea views and balconies, with work due to begin on 1 June and guests expected from mid-June. The history article reported that the hotel closed in 2016 and that Mr Little, a developer, planned to restore the building.