Grand Hotel (Brighton)

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The Grand Hotel, Brighton, 2004

The Grand Hotel is a 5-star hotel in Brighton on the south coast of England. It is located on Kings Road, the main carriageway along the seafront; one of several major hotels along this road. Following the fashion to include a hotel's parent company in its name, it is also known as the De Vere Grand, but is more colloquially known by locals as simply The Grand.

The hotel was designed by architect John Whichcord, and built in 1864. It was originally built for members of the upper classes visiting Brighton and remains one of the most expensive hotels in the city.

There are 200 rooms in the hotel, including 8 "inland singles", 115 "inland twin" and "inland double" rooms, 31 "sea-view twin" and "sea-view double" rooms and 42 "sea-view deluxe" rooms.

[edit] 1984 bombing

Main article: Brighton hotel bombing

The hotel was bombed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on the early morning of October 12, 1984, in an attempt to assassinate Margaret Thatcher during the Conservative Party conference. Thatcher survived the bombing, but five other people died in the attack, including Roberta Wakeham, wife of the government's Chief Whip John Wakeham, and the Conservative MP Sir Anthony Berry. A prominent member of the Cabinet, Norman Tebbit, 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 which won widespread approval across the political spectrum.