Estelle Manor temporarily closes due to 'contaminated air'

Estelle Manor, a luxury hotel and private members’ club in Oxfordshire launched by Sharan Pasricha, has temporarily closed as a result of a chemical incident.

The founder of Ennismore, which owns Gleneagles in Auchterarder and the Hoxton hotel brand, opened Estelle Manor in spring 2023 in the former site of Eynsham Hall country house hotel (pictured).

Oxfordshire County Council’s Fire and Rescue Service were called to the property yesterday morning (30 June). Two fire engines from Witney Fire Station attended initially, followed by relief crews throughout the night and into today (1 July).

An incident support unit and hazardous material advisors were also sent to the scene.

At the time of writing, a spokesperson for Oxfordshire County Council said: “Crews are still dealing with the incident by extracting contaminated air out of the basement and monitoring the surrounding area and rooms. The cause of the incident is still under investigation.”

The Caterer understands the incident was discovered in the South Terrace swimming pool pump room, which is adjoined to the Manor House building.

Guests staying in the Manor House were evacuated and moved to other parts of the estate for safety purposes during the ventilation process.

A small number of staff and guests received a check-up from medical professionals and no injuries were reported.

A spokesperson from Estelle Manor said: “We want to apologise to our guests, members and neighbours for the disruption caused by yesterday’s incident.

“The Fire Service has been working hard to safely ventilate the South Terrace swimming pool pump room and we expect this process to be completed shortly.

“We will be in touch with guests to compensate them for the inconvenience and look forward to opening as normal tomorrow.”

Estelle Manor and its “sister property” Maison Estelle in London’s Mayfair were both launched by Pasricha but are run separately from the Ennismore business.

His latest venture features 108 bedrooms across the manor house, as well as four restaurants, a 3,000 sqm Roman-inspired bath house spa, a gym with a class studio and padel courts, and a flexible workspace.

Estelle Manor has since confirmed (2 July) it is open and operating as normal.

Image: Shutterstock