Move to reopen Guernsey hotel quickly after kitchen fire

Monday, 22 September 2025 at 12:10

The owner of the Saints Bay Hotel is meeting with fire investigators and wants to get trading as soon as possible.

Owner Ashraf Elsergany says the fire alarms woke him just after 7 and he rushed to help staff tackle the blaze in the kitchen:

"What I saw, it was a disaster really, because of the fire from the fryer coming up and then I couldn't control it.

"One fire extension wasn't enough to put it down, even with the blanket.

"It was stronger, so we evacuated everybody in time and then all my staff were at the fire point and we waited for the fire brigade and (after they arrived) it was done in 15 minutes."

He says the damage from the flames and smoke from the deep fat fryer is not that obvious:

"The fire went through the ceiling and damaged a little bit of the room above, from outside, not from inside."

Mr Elsergany says Guernsey Police are interviewing him today (22 September) and the insurance assessors are flying over from the UK.

He is hopeful the hotel can begin trading again soon:

"We'll see what we can do, because we need to be up and running as soon as."

"We're cleaning the hotel, we fix everything as soon as, put a new duct in and then clean the kitchen and put everything back in."

The 35 guests were provided with alternative accommodation and the two fire crews left the scene after they had ensured that the fire could not start again.