The Grand Hotel in Eastbourne, known locally as ‘the white palace’, is by far the largest and most impressive building on the seafront, dominating the skyline for the past 151 years. The marble pillars in the great entrance hall, high corniced ceilings, chandeliers and sumptuous furnishings of the lounge rooms, transport one back to an elegant, opulent, relaxed pace of life of a bygone era.
The ‘Grand’ began life as a private residence, designed by local architect Robert Knott Blessley for William Earp and his extended family. The family moved out when Earp realized there was a market for a luxury hotel. The landed gentry would leave their country estates and city mansions and migrate to the coast for their summer holidays, sometimes months at a time. Earp concluded that a prestigious five-star hotel was needed to accommodate them. However, the Duke of Devonshire, who owned the land, refused permission. Earp took his case to court and in 1875 The Grand Hotel was born.
I stayed at the hotel a few years ago and was impressed by the quality of service, sustained with a high staff-to-guest ratio. My stay was during the Eastbourne Tennis Championship and at breakfast on the next table was the then world number one, Caroline Wozniacki. Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray were also sometime guests.
Until 1963 the hotel had a grass tennis court (replaced by an open-air swimming pool) where Fred Perry and Henry ‘Bunny’ Austin would practice in preparation for Wimbledon, which Perry won three consecutive years, 1934-1936. Perry was the first player, and only British player, to complete a career grand slam of all four majors. ‘Bunny’ Austin is remembered as the first player to wear shorts at Wimbledon.
The hotel has had a long association with music with its own orchestra broadcast live on BBC radio every Sunday evening from 1924 to 1939. Several world-renowned composers stayed at the hotel: Debussy 1905, Frank Bridge 1911 and Edward Elgar 1926.
Other famous guests include Sir Winston Churchill, antarctica explorer Sir Earnest Shackleton, Charlie Chaplin, author Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle and King Constantine of Greece.
I visit the hotel twice weekly to use the fitness suite: fully equipped gym, heated indoor and outdoor swimming pools, jacuzzi, steam room, massage and treatment rooms. Towels and gowns are provided and one can recline on comfortable loungers, indoor or outdoor, overlooking either pool to experience a pampered lifestyle, albeit temporarily.
The hotel has 152 rooms, including 53 suites, and 17 function rooms. each with its own characterful appeal. The bedrooms are spacious and comfortable, with ensuite and armchair seating area. There are two restaurants, the Mirabelle undoubtedly Eastbourne’s finest silver-service eatery. Afternoon tea served in one of the many lounge areas is an ambrosial experience and part of the English tradition that the Grand portrays, harking back to bygone days of what personal service and hotels used to be.
