Hotel and café closures to better use campus space

Cedars Hotel and the SportsPark café on Whiteknights campus are to be closed as part of efforts to make best use of all campus spaces.

Alternative offerings are being developed at both sites to allow them to better meet the needs of staff, students and visitors to campus and make them more financially sustainable.

The Refuel Café at the SportsPark will close at 4pm on Friday 21 April. Cedars will cease operations in September 2023.

Colleagues who currently work at the hotel and café are being offered alternative positions elsewhere at the University.

Cedars Hotel site

Cedars has experienced a number of maintenance issues in recent years, making a large-scale and costly refurbishment necessary to continue its operation. The University Executive Board therefore opted for a closure given its potential as a site in a prominent location on campus.

The Cedars Hotel site is now being considered as part of long-term campus development options, including a review of student accommodation and opportunities to attract new partners and tenants.

All guests with existing bookings have been informed. Venue Reading, which manages Cedars as part of Campus Commerce, is engaging with local hotels to identify alternative rooms for use by colleagues and guests attending conferences and other events on campus.

Refuel Café

The Refuel Café at the SportsPark will remain as a seating area until a permanent alternative use of the space is developed that better meets the needs of SportsPark users. The decision by Campus Commerce is in response to continued low sales at the café.

As part of the change, the SportsPark will get improved vending provision so visitors can continue to access a range of refreshments and snacks.

Signs will be placed outside the SportsPark cafe directing people to the nearest alternative outlets - Park Eat and the Henley Business School café.