An empty former hotel - where tables are still laid and towels remain on beds - is going under the hammer nearly two years after the previous owners went bust.

Newlands Country House, which was a B&B in Reydon, near Southwold until 2019, is set to be auctioned off for residential use by Allsop later this month.

Expected to attract offers of more than £600,000, the property is listed as being vacant and includes a two-storey main building with two single-storey courtyard buildings.

Inside, there is a swimming pool and three suites with reception rooms and bathrooms - and the former hotel is listed as having "potential for redevelopment".

Pictures captured for the auction give a glimpse of the hotel's recent past, with dining tables still laid out with cutlery and crockery, and beds made and dressed with towels.

According to Companies House records, the last firm with any ownership of the property was Newlands Country House Ltd, which went into voluntary liquidation in 2018.

A First Gazette notice from the time features a request that the company "be wound up voluntarily", with liquidators appointed on November 20, 2018.

Though now dissolved, the firm is still owned by James and Lalremsiem Keishing, who are currently based in Wales.

Both Indian business executives, the pair are also joint directors of the evangelical inter-denomination organisation 'Pray for the World Ministry', which was registered at Georgian House in Thoroughfare, Halesworth, from May 2012 until January 2020.

'Sad to see it sitting empty'

Reydon Parish Council chairman Pam Cyprien, who lives nearby, said the hotel was sold on in the early 2010s and opened as Newlands Country House B&B.

"I remember being shown around in the mid-2000s," she said.

"The place was up for sale for quite a long time, at one point it was going for more than £1million and then went down to around £900,000.

"But since the last owners moved out, it has been empty. There's a lot of space, I hope it is sold for residential.

"Personally, I think it would be lovely if it did sell and something was done with it. It's so sad to see it sitting empty."

With an average of 4.5 stars on TripAdvisor, the B&B attracted a flurry of 'excellent reviews' from its opening in 2011.

However, most reviews written from 2016 onwards were three stars or below with guests noting the indoor pool had been closed with rooms clean but beginning to appear "shabby".

With the company's financial accounts showing losses each year since it was incorporated, two years later, they appointed liquidators, and as of November 2019, it was dissolved.

The former owners have been approached for comment.

Ms Cyprien believes the hotel has been empty for around two to three years, with little to no signs of activity in that time.

Lowestoft Journal: Reydon Parish Council chairman Pam Cyprien said the outbuildings were once used for disabled accessReydon Parish Council chairman Pam Cyprien said the outbuildings were once used for disabled access (Image: ALLSOP)

"A few days ago I realised it had been tidied up, overgrown shrubs in the car park had been cut down and stuff like that," she added.

"When it was first a B&B in the mid-2000s, at the back, it was fitted out with self-contained unit for the disabled. That was a long time ago, before it was taken over in around 2011.

"Since then I haven't really known too much about it."

The former hotel's full listing can be viewed on Allsop's website.

It will go under the hammer with a guide price of £600,000+ on May 13.