Grand Hotel (Brighton)
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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, and it is a hotspot for celebrity spotting in Brighton.
The hotel was designed by architect John Whichcord, and built in 1864 on the site occupied previously by a battery house. It was originally built for members of the upper classes visiting Brighton and remains one of the most expensive hotels in the city and the only 5 star hotel in Brighton. Amongst its advance engineering features at the time was the 'Vertical Omnibus', a hydraulic lift operated with 'Monster cisterns' in the roof. This was the first lift built in the uk outside London where only two other had been installed.
The building itself is a great example of Italian influence in Victorian architecture and still commands Brighton Beach's skyline.
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 and 42 "sea-view deluxe" rooms and 4 seaview suites, including the presidential suite. The hotel also boasts extensive conference facilities for up to 800 delegates.
[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. The Bomb exploded at 2.51am 12th October. It had been hidden three months earlier behind the bath panel of room 629 (currently 621). 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.
The hotel was re opened in 1986. The re-inauguration was attended by Margaret Thatcher. The Concorde flew low from the South to salute the opening.
