The Grand Hotel is a Victorian hotel also known as the 'White Palace' is located on King Edwards Parade, Eastbourne in East Sussex England. This 5 star hotel is part of an independent UK based hotel group, Elite Hotels who also own Tylney Hall in Hampshire, Ashdown Park Hotel near Forest Row and Luton Hoo in Luton.
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On 13 May 1874 the Eastbourne Gazette announced that a local resident William Earp was proposing to build a hotel with a 400-foot frontage at a cost of £50,000. The result was the Grand Hotel, constructed in 1875.
The Grand Hotel is wknown for its long association with music. Claude Debussy completed his symphony 'La Mer' in Suite 200 in 1905. Suite 200 is now known as the Debussy Suite. The Grand Hotel Orchestra broadcasted live on the BBC from the Great Hall every Sunday night from 1924 to 1939 on the programme 'Grand Hotel'. During the Second World War, Eastbourne was easy prey to air raids and the hotel eventually closed down and became a military headquarters. The hotel was taken over by the De Vere Hotel Group in 1965 and then by Elite Hotels in 1998 when a complete refurbishment took place.
The Grand Hotel has 152 rooms, including 23 suites, 30 junior suites and 99 rooms. The hotel also offers conference and banqueting facilities with 17 fully equipped conference and meeting rooms of varying size. The largest is the Compton Room which can accommodate up to 300 guests in a theatre-style layout.
On 26 June 1995 there was a serious fire at the Grand Hotel. The fire started when workmen had been repainting, using blow torches to strip off old paint. The fire spread quickly partly because of hidden roof voids and the tar pitch in the roof. The hotel was evacuated and there were no casualties.