Selsdon Park Hotel has been an important local landmark for generations. I am delighted that planning permission has now been granted for the first stage of a £30 million project to restore it and bring this remarkable estate back into active use.
The history of the site stretches back more than 1,000 years, with references to a manor at Selsdon dating from the ninth century. Over the centuries, the estate has been associated with figures including Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, while the Smith family helped shape much of the character we recognise today.
Following the hotel’s closure in 2023, residents understandably wanted to know what its future would hold. Its purchase by AB Boutique Hotels earlier this year, followed by this first planning approval, offers a positive and credible way forward.
The initial phase will focus on restoring the hotel’s windows, including its distinctive stained-glass and decorative leaded windows. This careful work will preserve important historic features, improve energy efficiency and help protect the fabric of the locally listed building.
It is the beginning of a much bigger vision for Selsdon Park.
The Elysium Collection plans to invest £30 million in transforming the estate into a high-quality hotel and leisure destination. Its wider proposals include refurbishing the hotel, gym and tennis courts, introducing new spa and wellness facilities and padel courts, and improving access to the site. There are also plans to enhance the landscape and biodiversity across its 200 acres of historic parkland.
If the wider programme progresses as planned, the hotel and leisure facilities could reopen in summer 2027, with the spa expected to follow later that year.
This represents a major vote of confidence in Selsdon and in Croydon. The completed project is expected to create more than 150 full and part-time jobs, support local businesses and strengthen our visitor economy. It will give people another reason to visit our borough while restoring a much-loved building that might otherwise have continued to deteriorate.
I want Croydon to be a place where businesses have the confidence to invest, create jobs and pursue ambitious plans. The Council also has a responsibility to ensure that growth respects the character of our communities and protects the heritage that makes them distinctive.
I would particularly like to thank Councillor Robert Ward, our Cabinet Member for Parks and Culture and Selsdon Councillor, who has worked quietly and determinedly behind the scenes to help make this progress possible. Robert understands how much Selsdon Park means to local people and has played an important part in maintaining momentum and supporting constructive engagement as the plans have developed.
This project shows that investment and conservation can work together. With the right partners and a practical planning approach, we can preserve an important part of Croydon’s past while giving it a sustainable future.
There is further work ahead as the wider proposals develop, but this first approval is a significant milestone. I look forward to seeing Selsdon Park Hotel restored, reopened and once again playing an important part in the life and economy of our borough.
