{"id":683322,"date":"2026-05-21T03:19:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T03:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/683322\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T03:19:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T03:19:16","slug":"uks-only-kosher-certified-hotel-in-cliftonville-applies-for-premises-licence-the-isle-of-thanet-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/683322\/","title":{"rendered":"UK\u2019s only kosher-certified hotel in Cliftonville applies for premises licence \u2013 The Isle of Thanet News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The Unico Hotel is based at the former Selina building Photo John Horton<\/p>\n

The only kosher-certified hotel in the UK, based in Cliftonville, has now applied for a new premises licence.<\/p>\n

Unico Hotel has taken over the former Selina hotel in Eastern Esplanade.<\/p>\n

It offers accommodation, full-board kosher dining, and bespoke holiday experiences tailored to the Orthodox Jewish community.<\/p>\n

The hotel business is founded by entrepreneur Reza Afshar, who is also responsible for a luxury real estate business in Switzerland.<\/p>\n

The Selina hotel had opened with a soft launch at the end of 2022 at the site of the former Smiths Court Hotel. The revamped venue offered \u00a0rooms, a bar, coworking space, boutique, and a restaurant.<\/p>\n

But it closed in August 2024 after Selina Hospitality went into administration. The company was founded by Israeli businessmen Daniel Rudasevski and Rafael Museri\u00a0 but yearly losses forced it to lay off employees worldwide before exiting leases of underperforming locations.<\/p>\n

\"\"(Photo Totally Jewish Travel)<\/p>\n

The Unico Hotels company was incorporated in June last year.<\/p>\n

The Unico Hotel website says the Cliftonville venue provides \u201ca luxury kosher Shavuot experience with inspiring Torah programmes.\u201d<\/p>\n

It adds: \u201cOur hotel offers high-quality accommodation with a focus on kosher standards, making it a unique and trusted choice for guests seeking both comfort and authenticity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hotel is Kedassia-certified which means it has been strictly verified as kosher by the Joint Kashrus Committee (often referred to as Kedassia). Associated primarily with the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations (UOHC), it is one of the strictest and most widely trusted kosher certification agencies in the UK.<\/p>\n

Unico Hotel has applied to Thanet council for a new premises licence. The application will be discussed by councillors on May 27.<\/p>\n

Find Unico Hotel at: https:\/\/unicohotels.co.uk\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"(Photo Totally Jewish Travel)<\/p>\n

Thanet has a rich history of Jewish communities on the isle, most significantly through Ramsgate benefactor Sir Moses Montefiore who built a synagogue at his estate and is laid to rest in the adjoining mausoleum with his wife, Lady Judith.<\/p>\n

By the early 20th century, Cliftonville was a central destination for Jewish families escaping the East End of London, leading to a thriving resort town equipped with kosher restaurants, boarding houses, and active congregations.<\/p>\n

During World War II, the coast became a temporary home for refugee children arriving on the Kindertransport, while many original Jewish residents were displaced.<\/p>\n

The Thanet & District Reform Synagogue based in Ramsgate is an active community today and serves families spread across East Kent. It holds regular services and educational events.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Unico Hotel is based at the former Selina building Photo John Horton The only kosher-certified hotel in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":683323,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[49,48,84,395],"class_list":["post-683322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-nutrition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=683322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/683323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=683322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=683322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=683322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}