Grand Brighton Hotel
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The Grand Brighton Hotel is a Victorian seafront hotel in
Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
on the south coast of England. Designed by John Whichcord Jr. and built in 1864 by Lewis Glenton, it was intended for members of the upper classes visiting the town and remains one of Brighton's most expensive hotels. During the 1984 Conservative Party conference the hotel was bombed by the
Provisional Irish Republican Army The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...
(IRA) in an attempt to assassinate the Prime Minister,
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...
.


History

The Grand Hotel was designed by the architect John Whichcord Jr. and built in 1864 by Lewis Glenton on the site occupied previously by the West Battery at Artillery Place, one of Brighton's 18th-century coastal fortifications. It was built for members of the upper classes visiting
Brighton and Hove Brighton and Hove ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority area, ceremonially in East Sussex, England. There are multiple villages alongside the seaside resorts of Brighton and Hove in the district. It is administe ...
and remains one of the most expensive hotels in the city. Among its advanced engineering features at the time was the ‘Ascending Omnibus’, a hydraulically powered lift powered by cisterns in the roof. This was the first lift built in the United Kingdom outside London, at a time when only two others had been installed. The building itself is an example of Italian influence in
Victorian architecture Victorian architecture is a series of Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the st ...
.


1984 bombing

The hotel was bombed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) in the early morning of 12 October 1984 in an attempt to assassinate the Prime Minister,
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...
, during the Conservative Party conference. The bomb exploded at 2:51am. It had been hidden three weeks earlier behind the bath panel of room 629. Thatcher survived the bombing but five other people were killed in the attack, including Roberta Wakeham, wife of the
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
's
Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom I ...
, John Wakeham, and the Conservative MP Sir Anthony Berry.
Norman Tebbit Norman Beresford Tebbit, Baron Tebbit, (born 29 March 1931) is a British retired politician. A member of the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet from 1981 to 1987 as Secretary of State for Employment (1981–1 ...
, a member of the Cabinet, was injured, along with his wife, Margaret, who was left paralysed. Thatcher insisted that the conference open on time the next day and made her speech as planned in defiance of the bombers, a gesture that won widespread approval across the political spectrum. The hotel was reopened on 28 August 1986. The ceremony was attended by Thatcher, who spoke at a reception to celebrate the reopening. Tebbit accompanied her.
Concorde Concorde () is a retired Anglo-French supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France and the United Kingdom signed a treaty establishin ...
flew low from the south to salute the opening.


Later history

The hotel belonged to the De Vere Group, beginning in the 1990s. De Vere Hotels undertook a multimillion-pound refurbishment of The Grand, which was completed in 2013. Another refurbishment project concluded in 2019. On 15 October 2011 the Grand Hotel was inducted into the Brighton Walk of Fame and is only the third structure in Brighton to be recognised by the Walk of Fame committee. The hotel has hosted many famous guests, including
ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...
, who partied in the appropriately named Napoleon Suite on the first floor following their 1974 Eurovision Song Contest win with their performance of ' Waterloo'. Other famous faces who have performed in The Grand Brighton's Empress Suite include singer Jessie J, Rizzle Kicks,
The Saturdays The Saturdays are an English-Irish girl group based in London, England. The group formed during the summer of 2007 and has been on hiatus since 2014. The lineup consists of Frankie Bridge, Una Healy, Rochelle Humes, Mollie King, and Vanessa Whi ...
, Adam El-makbachi,
Elbow The elbow is the region between the upper arm and the forearm that surrounds the elbow joint. The elbow includes prominent landmarks such as the olecranon, the cubital fossa (also called the chelidon, or the elbow pit), and the lateral and t ...
and Sugababes. De Vere Hotels sold the Grand in 2014 to Wittington Investments for £50 million. This company in turn sold the hotel to Leonardo Hotels, part of the Fattal Group, in February 2023.


Facilities

There are 201 rooms in the hotel, including 8 singles, 115 standard twin and standard double rooms, 31 sea-view twin and sea-view double rooms, 42 sea-view deluxe rooms and 4 sea-view suites, including the ‘Presidential Suite’. It offers bespoke conferencing facilities for up to 1,000 guests. The Empress Suite is the country's largest sea-facing conference suite and can hold 1,000 guests. It is commonly used as a venue for weddings, along with the hotel's Regent room (a former Victorian library) and first-floor suites. The Grand Brighton hotel is also home to Cyan restaurant and bar, an all-day dining spot which still features original 155-year-old marble pillars around its central bar area.


Management

The current manager is Andrew Mosley, who joined the hotel in May 2010. The Grand Brighton has been praised for its industry-leading approach to management of employee engagement in the hospitality industry, winning 'Best Employer in UK Hospitality' at the 2019 Cateys award ceremony hosted by The Caterer."Cateys 2019: Best Employer Award - The Grand Brighton"
(4 July 2019) The Caterer


Film and television appearances

Amongst many appearances in television and film the Grand Hotel was visited by the Trotter family in 1992 in an episode of the
BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...
comedy ''
Only Fools and Horses ''Only Fools and Horses'' (titled onscreen as ''Only Fools and Horses....'') is a British television sitcom that was created and written by John Sullivan (writer), John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Ki ...
'' entitled Mother Nature's Son. The hotel has also been featured in ITV's ''
Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...
''. The hotel was the subject of the documentary ''The Grand'' written and presented by Robert Longden for
Southern Television Southern Television was the ITV broadcasting licence holder for the South and South-East of England from 30 August 1958 to 31 December 1981. The company was launched as Southern Television Limited. However, in 1966, during the application pr ...
. In the film '' Quadrophenia'' it was the hotel where Sting's character, Ace Face, was a bellboy.


See also

* Grade II listed buildings in Brighton and Hove: E–H


References


Bibliography

* *


External links

*
DeVere Hotels page
{{Authority control 1864 establishments in England Grade II listed buildings in Brighton and Hove Hotels established in 1864 Hotels in Brighton and Hove Italianate architecture in England