News

An infamous hostel for homeless people in Glasgow has closed its doors for the last time.

The Great Eastern Hotel accommodated 120 long term residents, many with chronic alcohol addiction and mental health problems. Conditions were sparse with residents allocated small, cell-size cubicles and sharing most other facilities. The name, Great Eastern, become synonymous in Glasgow for being down and out.

The closure of the Great Eastern Hotel marks a major step in the strategy to re-house all of the Glasgow’s hostel dwellers in smaller units offering intensive social care and health support. Scottish Homes funded the £8 million decommissioning of the Great Eastern along with Glasgow Council, Loretto and Milnbank Housing Associations.

Rhona Murray, project co-ordinator of the de-commissioning group, said: "It’s a happy day when the worst hostel in Glasgow is closed."

The city-wide strategy of closing all of Glasgow’s 1,100 hostel beds over the next four years has been financed with £12 million from the Scottish executive.

Welcoming the closure of the Great Eastern Hotel, Jackie Baillie, social justice minister, said: "It’s clear that Glasgow’s old, out-of-date hostels are part of the homeless problem and not part of the solution."

The five-storey Victorian building looks set now to be converted into luxury flats.