One of Salford’s most beloved underground music venues, whose founder said it was as vital to the city as “Heinz tinned spaghetti is to a hangover,” is set to close after a decade at the heart of the UK’s avant-garde arts scene.
The White Hotel, a renowned arts venue and nightclub housed inside a former MOT garage, will continue to host DJs, artists and creatives until it closes for good in January 2027.
Its scheduled closure comes after plans to redevelop Salford’s Cambridge Industrial Estate and Manchester’s Strangeways district were approved, paving the way for 7,000 homes, commercial space and a 60-acre wetland park along the River Irwell.
According to Salford City Council’s Strategic Regeneration Framework, the White Hotel is located in a flood-risk zone which encompasses parts of Lower Broughton.
Amid concerns about the impact development could have on a high-flood risk area, Salford and Manchester City councils greenlit plans for Copper Park, a sprawling green space designed to mitigate the risk of floods in the future.
The White Hotel stands where the new flood plain will be, and the venue’s co-founders, Ben Ward and artistic director Austin Collings, told the Guardian they decided it would be best for the iconic Salford nightclub to go out on its own terms.
“Basically, it’s a swamp,” Ward said in an interview with the paper. “It’s come as a surprise that it’s lasted this long anyway.”
Founded by Ward and artistic director Austin Collings, The White Hotel officially opened in 2015, but its origins can be traced further back into Salford’s warehouse rave scene.
It originated under a different name as the Fuhrer Bunker on Dickenson Street, before the venue’s name changed to the Bunker. The operation moved to Unit 1 in Salford and rebranded as The White Hotel.
In 2018, the venue was caught at the centre of a media storm when it staged a word-for-word re-enactment of Princess Diana’s funeral. Club regulars marched through Salford carrying a fake coffin, accompanied by a mariachi band playing Candle in the Wind, and a recording of Jonathan Meades reading Earl Spencer’s eulogy for his sister.
In 2024, Collings told Salford Now: “The attitude of the place is unrivalled and unparalleled.
We do not exclude, rip off, look down or bore. From The White Hotel, you never come back.”
Then, he said the White Hotel was “as important as Heinz tinned spaghetti to a hangover” to Salford’s experimental music scene.
