A COUNTRY house hotel near Christchurch will be closing at the end of October.

Major Bournemouth-based landowner Meyrick Estate said the decision to shut East Close Hotel in Hinton had been made following a “strategic review”.

The announcement comes less than two years after the estate re-acquired the hotel. At that time, there were plans to restore and refurbish the Georgian building and its 18 acres of parkland.

Sue Timperley, Chief Operating Officer of Meyrick Estate Management, said following the closure of the hotel, the estate “will be exploring other opportunities to bring new life to East Close”.

“The Hinton Admiral Estate can confirm that the East Close Hotel in Hinton, just outside Christchurch, will close at the end of October 2018.

“The decision comes following a strategic review and a decision by the estate to focus on opportunities within its extensive portfolio.”

The estate will not be selling on the building, but it is not yet known what it plans to do with the site. The hotel’s website is not taking online bookings from September 30 onwards.

A Dorset-based family celebrant, who informed the Daily Echo about the hotel’s closure, said a couple who had been due to get married at the hotel in November had been forced to make alternative arrangements.

“The bride is getting really anxious,” she said.

According to reviews by guests on TripAdvisor over the last few months, agency staff have been drafted in for weddings recently who were “poorly trained” and “not knowledgeable about the venue”.

Only in June, the hotel’s general manager said quotes for an internal and external refurbishment were being collated, in response to one guest who posted about “small, dated and stuffy” rooms.

The hotel, a former country house, is thought to have numbered Lewis Carroll among its guests – and it is rumoured to have been the inspiration for some of the events of his masterpiece, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Billed as a ‘boutique hotel’, the price of a one-night stay ranges from around £100 to £160 for the master suite.