Friday 21 October 2011

Northwich's Hotel on the River Weaver..................................The Floatel

My home town Northwich until recently had the only floating hotel in the UK.
Built in 1989 the Floatel had 60 bedrooms plus conference facilities and catered for weddings etc.
It was refurbished in 2000...
...but even then time had started to run out fot the UKs only floating hotel.
These rooms looked out over the car park and a Car Dealers...
... you could see the river if you looked over the balcony.

This image is taken from the same place... a sad sight.
The Floatel finally closed it's doors in January 2009... and once abandoned it became an eyesore.
British Waterways started to demolish it in November that same year.
It was a unique place to stay and did have some local support for saving it... falling on deaf ears.
It started to look a sorry sight and as it was so prominent (right in the town centre) it had to go.
The pontoons it sat on are still there as a reminder  (to me any way) of it's presence
A pleasure boat on the River Weaver alongside the derelict Floatel.
While searching the net to confirm dates etc I came across a lovely tale of the Floatels Christmas Tree.
It was saved from loft space above room 225 by an ex employee who remembered where it was just before the demolishion started and asked if she could have it.
It's a nice story and will be shared this Xmas... after all it's part of my little towns history.
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13 comments:

  1. TexWisGirl21 October 2011 at 20:29

    an interesting structure, for sure.

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  2. Bob Bushell21 October 2011 at 20:41

    Shame its not working any more, brilliant photos.

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  3. Chatty Crone21 October 2011 at 20:45

    I've never seen a floating hotel before that would have been a great place to stay at and visit! sandie

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  4. Unknown21 October 2011 at 21:07

    So sad to see . . . but I'm interested in seeing that Christmas Tree. And your photos are awesome - so clear - great reflection on the last one.

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  5. Inger-M21 October 2011 at 21:15

    A sad story, it's sad when a business can't make a go of it and has to close down. People lose their jobs, and the buildings often turn into eyesores, like here.
    Your photos are brilliant though, and some very nice reflections there!

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  6. Unknown21 October 2011 at 22:46

    Funny it didn't take!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  7. Spare Parts and Pics22 October 2011 at 03:47

    Kind of a neat idea to have a floating hotel. Too bad they couldn't make a go of it. Nice post, really interesting.

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  8. ADRIAN22 October 2011 at 08:10

    I remember this place.....a beautiful Dutch barge.

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  9. Light and Voices22 October 2011 at 13:24

    Awww....Too bad floating hotel idea went kaput.
    Joyce M

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  10. Malgorzata Ingstad22 October 2011 at 13:27

    Everything is comming to its end. Sad but when the things are not functioning any more, they die - just as us.

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  11. Unknown22 October 2011 at 15:42

    A hotel on the water. Fantastic!

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  12. cieldequimper22 October 2011 at 19:54

    How I wish it could have been saved...

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  13. Pantherka23 October 2011 at 11:28

    Beautiful photos. It's a shame the hotel on the river looked very beautiful.

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