Beaconsfield residents feel they have been ‘snubbed’ after a hotel in Beaconsfield decided to add Gerrards Cross to its name after a rebrand.

Following a £20 million top to toe refurbishment, The Bellhouse Hotel on Oxford Road officially reopened its doors as the Crowne Plaza Gerrards Cross Hotel on September 24.

Local dignitaries including mayor of Beaconsfield John Read, South Bucks District councillors, Chiltern District councillors, Beaconsfield town councillors and senior InterContinental Hotels Group partners joined general manager David Jones and over 200 guests to celebrate the official opening.   

However, Beaconsfield residents are baffled as to why the hotel, which officially falls within the town boundaries of Beaconsfield, has included Gerrards Cross in their name and feel they have been ‘disowned’. 

Bob Massie, who lives in the Old Town, said: “They seem to have taken it upon themselves to disown Beaconsfield and there has been a bit of an outcry among residents.

“You cannot physically change where a hotel is. The Bellhouse hotel was, for years and years, a Beaconsfield hotel. It is nearer to Beaconsfield than Gerrards Cross, so I can’t see how they worked that one out and I don’t know why they would change their name to associate with a village rather than a vibrant town.

“Why has the new hotel decided they don’t want to be in Beaconsfield? A lot of people in the town feel like they have been snubbed. The postcode of the hotel is HP9, a Beaconsfield postcode.

“You can’t change the facts, unless they have physically picked up the hotel and moved it a mile down the A40. On that basis, they could call themselves anything they wanted.

“It is just complete nonsense.”

David Jones, general manager of Crowne Plaza Gerrards Cross, defended the choice of name, saying: "Crowne Plaza hotels are popular with business travellers from around the world and are designed to make business travel productive. Travel is an important part of this. The hotel is both geographically closer to Gerrards Cross as well as its train station.

“However, residents from all areas are welcome and we know that Crowne Plaza Gerrards Cross will play an important role in the broader local community.”