The Britannia International Hotel in Canary Wharf has been at the centre of anti-migrant protests in recent weeks.
The four-star property is part of the Britannia Hotels group owned by Alex Langsam — the man nicknamed the “Asylum King” and worth a reported £400 million.
His business has long carried a controversial reputation, repeatedly ranked by consumer group Which? as the “worst hotel chain” in Britain.
Last month, the hotel in Canary Wharf closed its doors to the public as the Home Office began converting it into accommodation for asylum seekers, triggering the demonstrations.
A ring of steel was erected around the building, and despite ongoing unrest, the first arrivals were moved in at the start of August.
Once one of Britannia’s more expensive sites — charging around £120 a night — the Canary Wharf hotel and its owner are now at the centre of a heated national debate.
Who is Alex Langsam?
Langsam lives in a sprawling 10-bedroom estate in a village in Cheshire.
His parents were Jewish refugees who came to Britain from Vienna as Hitler annexed Austria.
In what appears to be his only interview with a national newspaper, Langsam told the Guardian in 2011 that his family would “probably have gone to the gas chambers” had they not been welcomed in the UK.
“My father was the most nationalistic person I have ever come across,” Langsam told the newspaper.
“Britain saved his life and gave him a living and he instilled that in me. I am grateful for what this country has given me.”
The family settled in Hove near Brighton. Langsam studied economics at Aberystwyth University in Wales, once joking that it was the only higher education institution that would let him in after he failed his O-level in maths.
It has been reported that he worked as an estate agent before becoming a property developer with various projects in Manchester.
The Hotel Tycoon
Langsam founded Britannia almost 50 years ago with the purchase of the Country House Hotel in Didsbury, Manchester in 1976.
It has now expanded to around 60 sites across the country. In 2011, the Britannia group bought holiday camp Pontins from administrators for an estimated £20 million.
Langsam, 87, has said his company has a record of adopting “neglected properties” and making “the necessary investment to restore them to their former glory”.
But customers do not always feel the same. In 2023 Britannia Hotels was branded “Britain’s worst hotel chain” by Which? for the 11th year in a row, with guests complaining of stained mattresses and mould at some sites.
The Asylum King
In 2014, Britannia began renting rooms out to the Home Office to house asylum seekers while they wait for their applications to remain in the UK to be assessed.
With record numbers of people crossing the Channel in small boats and a large backlog of asylum applications, the move has significantly boosted Britannia’s profits.
Some £2.1 billion was spent on hotel accommodation by the Home Office between April 2024 and March 2025 - an average of about £5.77 million per day, Home Office figures show. This down from £3 billion, or £8.3 million per day, compared to the previous year.
Langsam’s net worth is around £400 million, according to The Sunday Times.
In 2023, it was reported that at least 17 of the chain’s hotels had been block-booked by the Government, leading newspapers to dub the businessman “the Asylum King”.
The seafront Metropole Hotel in Blackpool has accommodated up to 520 migrants at a time since 2021.
Local Labour MP Chris Webb has raised concerns about the property. He told the Telegraph: “It’s been an iconic hotel for years but has had a lack of investment, and then it’s been turned into an asylum hotel and… just been left to go to ruin.”
“We’ve seen 520 people in there at times, predominantly families and young people,” he added.
“There aren’t suitable facilities in there for young people [and] it adds a lot of strain to local services.”
Britannia Hotels was contacted for comment.
