In recent years, boutique properties have hogged the limelight but in hospitality’s cyclical way, it’s time for big hotels - the sort that have vision and panache - to have an overdue fashion moment.
Like all good fashions, there’s plenty of history in play here. Britain has Victorian and Edwardian visionaries to thank for its grandest hotels. Fairmont Windsor Park will open next summer summer, with over 200 rooms and suites, all with proportions where no one will feel crowded, including a spa that covers 2,500 square meters. Formerly the Savill Court Hotel and Spa, it’s always had a sense of grandeur but next year will see a 21st century interpretation.
As has the Headland Hotel in Newquay, a six storey building on its own peninsula, complete with turrets, conservatories and terraces. Built by the magnificently-named Slivanus Trevail, when it first opened in 1900, it had quarters for servants. Today, there are 91 bedrooms in the main hotel and another 84 spread around the self-catering cottages.
The Edwardian stateliness remains in place though; from the grandfather clocks and bars to corridors wide enough to promenade along. The first guests played croquet and tennis; now Headland’s main beach, Fistral, is known as Cornwall’s finest surfing beach.
With 267 rooms, the Savoy was built by the theatre impresario Richard D’Oyly Carte in 1889. Today it still throws sensory overload into the mix, with butlers and concierge, a winter garden for afternoon tea, honeymooners and celebrities alongside the beautiful Art Deco styling as well as quirks; its entrance is the only place in Britain where you drive on the right.
The Birmingham Grand first opened in 1879 with a delightfully camp melange of neo Gothic and Art Deco touches. Royalty and film stars, including Charlie Chaplin, flocked until it fell into disrepair and closed in 2002. This year, the Birmingham Grand reopened with a £50 million restoration and an updated sense of place. It has 185 rooms, including a two-bedroom penthouse, sweeping staircases and all the cocktail bars and restaurants you’d hope for.
In Edinburgh, The Balmoral towers over Waverley Station and Princes Street with a clock tower that’s deliberately kept three minutes fast to help people catch their trains (it only shows the proper time on New Year’s Eve). Built with full Victorian splendor, including a palm court, 167 rooms and a bar with 500 whiskies, the Balmoral has film set looks and kilt-and-tweed-clad doormen.
Gleneagles, which has 200 rooms, even has its own railway station. Yes, golf is important, as is the occasional G8 summit, but there’s also a kennel of 18 fully trained gundogs to put through their paces, a falconry school and ferrets and chef Andrew Fairlie helms a two Michelin-starred restaurant.
And despite Covid-19, big hotels are continuing to open with more in the pipeline. The Londoner, on Leicester Square, with 350 rooms across 16 floors opened this fall. The equally new Pan Pacific London has 237 guestrooms and suites and the Square Mile’s largest hotel ballroom. Next year, the curvaceous Edinburgh W will have 214 guestrooms, while the rooftop will have a destination bar and outdoor terrace.
