Is The Navigator Still Open? The Hotel Inspector Update (Bognor Regis, UK)

The Navigator Hotel, a seafront hotel on Marine Drive West in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, appeared in the Hotel Inspector episode first shown on 2026-03-05 (series 21, episode 2). TheTVDB's entry describes a once-successful hotel that was struggling to survive, with an owner under money pressure, constant leaks and deteriorating rooms.

The Sussex Express published an article on 2026-03-05, the evening of the broadcast, naming Kathleen Lamb as owner and Anthony Hayllar as co-director. Its headline said the hotel was drawing praise for leading a revival in Bognor Regis, and the piece treated the episode as context rather than its main subject.

South East Business reported on 2024-09-05 that a Navigator Hotel in Bognor Regis had sold at £865,000, which the article gave as the guide price at completion, after the previous owner held it for 22 years. It described 12 en-suite letting rooms, a manager's flat, a restaurant and a bar, and said the unnamed buyer was making a lifestyle change. The sources read for this entry do not link that sale to the owners named by the Sussex Express, so the two reports are kept apart. The sale report predates the episode.

The hotel's own website, navigatorhotel.co.uk, was loading on 2026-10-19 and described a seaside escape with balcony views of sunrises and waves. The text retrieved showed no booking system, room list or dated notice. A Google Maps listing for The Navigator Hotel, 13-14 Marine Drive West, Bognor Regis PO21 2QA, is marked operational. The Sussex Express is the only 2026-dated outlet found for this record, and no source read describes what changed at the hotel after filming.