Brighton’s grand dame

One hundred and thirty-five years ago this summer, on 26 July 1890, the grand Hotel Metropole swung open its doors. It was the largest and most prestigious hotel outside London, with over 700 bedrooms and a 500-seat dining hall. The opening was so spectacular that a luxury train carried 1,500 visitors from Victoria and Brighton’s King’s Road was carpeted with red Hassocks sand. In the run-up, rumour had run riot - some said the Metropole would boast 4,000 bedrooms, others that its electric lighting could illuminate the entire town.

The Metropole was the vision of hotel magnate Frederick Gordon, known as the ‘Napoleon of the Hotel World’, who wanted a showpiece to crown his chain. He turned to Alfred Waterhouse, the celebrated architect of the Natural History Museum, whose use of red brick and terracotta gave Brighton’s seafront a startling contrast to the familiar white stucco. Together they created a building that was both vast and imposing, a statement of modern luxury that set out to eclipse anything the resort had seen before.

In its early years, the Metropole was a glittering hub for stage-struck society: Julia James and the Dare sisters, Zena and Phyllis; Vesta Tilley, the famed male impersonator (see The St Aubyns performers); Lillie Langtry, the Jersey Lily; Countess Poulett in her sumptuous finery - all taking tea under chandeliers and whispering success, scandal, and style. And in August 1917, Princess Louise, Queen Victoria’s artistic daughter, stayed for ten days, blending royal grace with genuine empathy as she comforted wounded soldiers.

During the Second World War, the hotel pivoted from luxury to service. It housed RAF aircrew and Australian and New Zealand forces, becoming a wartime hub with hospitality leagues, chaplains, dentists, thousands of grateful servicemen, and fresh New Zealand tinned oysters. In July 1945, it even became a Red Cross centre to repatriate POWs, offering warm baths, clean uniforms, de-briefings and tender reunions.

Post-war, the Metropole staged a glamorous revival: in 1947 Winston Churchill and Clementine dined there after he received the Freedom of Brighton, and that signed menu remains in the hotel’s library. The 1950s and 60s saw it flourish as a VIP hotspot - Shirley Bassey, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, Princess Margaret, Margot Fonteyn, Ian Fleming - graced its casino which once hosted 800 guests a night.

From today’s vantage - 135 years down the line - the Metropole still stands as Brighton’s grand dame. Its original façade remains unmistakable; the building’s integrity continues despite 1960s extensions. The south-facing bedrooms still look out over the beach, offering views that have changed little since 1890, apart from the line of wind turbines on the horizon and the melancholy remains of the West Pier slowly crumbling into the sea. It remains the largest residential conference hotel in the South of England, with 340 bedrooms, now operating under the DoubleTree by Hilton brand since 2023.

More on the hotel can be found at Wikipedia, or at Judy Middleton’s excellent Hove in the past website.