A hotel firm has raked in £700 million of taxpayer money a year by housing asylum seekers. Stay Belvedere Hotels Ltd houses 38,000 people across 210 sites, at a cost of £5.5 million a day.

Some of the hotels have been likened to “all-inclusive resorts”. At the Ibis Budget in Bishop’s Stortford, asylum seekers can take classes such as singing, cooking, English lessons and a legal support service. There are also twice-daily buses to town and a donation-funded children’s entertainer, reports The Sun.

The Home Office told The Sun it doesn’t fund such activities: “These may be provided by voluntary organisations. This hotel is currently being transitioned to a new provider.”

The government recently ended Stay Belvedere Hotels Ltd’s contract for 51 of the hotels housing asylum seekers, saying they “fell short of expectations”.

There are fewer hotels housing asylum seekers than when Labour came into power, with reportedly seven more set to close by the end of next month. One of Labour’s election promises was to close the hotels and “save billions.”

A resident near one of the Ibis hotels near Stansted said locals see the asylum seekers “walking around and getting on the bus” but that they “keep to themselves.”

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “It’s an insult to the taxpayer to discover that all the extra taxes Starmer has imposed are being squandered on accommodating illegal immigrants in hotels with nice activities. Starmer is a weak PM letting Britain down.

“The taxpayer is picking up the bill for Labour’s loss of control of our borders. So far 2025 has been the worst year ever for migrants crossing the Channel, who invariably end up in taxpayer-funded hotels or flats. They should be in Rwanda but Labour cancelled that scheme before it started.”

But a Labour source responded: “Tories let the accommodation system spiral out of control, with 400 hotels costing £8 million a day at its peak. We have made changes to save the taxpayer billions and are committed to exiting asylum hotels altogether.”

A spokesman for Stay Belvedere Hotels Ltd said: “SBHL has provided a consistent bus service, which has been well-received by guests.”

The Daily Express has reached out to the hotel firm for comment.