You leave home for a short while, and look what happens!
Yes, they try to burn the place down.
The Royal Albion Hotel is just over the road from Brighton's Palace Pier. It may be described as 'historic' by some, but unkempt might be more appropriate. The hotel has had a chequered history, from being very chic to being very shabby. A friend who stayed there quite recently said it was awful.
It has always been one of Brighton's major hotels along with The Grand and The Metropole, but recently its standards have fallen.
I just hope that the owners take this opportunity to rebuild and revamp the whole place, and return it to how it once was; a landmark property.
At first it looked like just the one upper room was burning, then later they showed one further across and another lower down, so was the whole building burnt out? It's gong to cost a fortune to rebuild.
ReplyDeleteI believe there was strong wind at the time, and it made the fire spread very quickly. I'm wondering if they'll apply to pull it down and completely rebuild?
DeleteThat happens here. A once majestic old building gradually falls into disrepair and becomes too uneconomic to maintain so a mysterious fire breaks out. There is then a planning application put in to demolish and replace with a block of flats.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid it's quite common. Why the Insurance Co's don't see what's happening (or can't prove it) baffles me.
DeleteI heard on the news the roads are being closed for demolition, not sure if it's the whole building.
ReplyDeleteI shall go past it in 6 weeks time, so I'll be able to see how much has gone.
DeleteThere's nothing funny to say about that. Tragic.
ReplyDeleteI just hope that The New Albion Hotel is better than the last one.
DeleteAgree with YP - tragic indeed. The trouble is that holiday habits have changed and most folk who go to the popular seaside places only seem to want cheap accomodation.
ReplyDeleteWe certainly tend always to stay at cheaper 'Ibis' hotels, but that's usually only for one night when travelling.
DeleteIts a grand old building. Im with you in hoping they now restore and modernise
ReplyDeleteIt's in a very prominent position, and deserves to look its best.
DeleteWhen large buildings catch fire, sometimes the nearby surrounding properties catch as well. This seems isolated to the single hotel. Thank goodness for that.
ReplyDeleteYes, there are some stunning Georgian buildings nearby too.
DeleteAs a Sussex coast dweller I'm not far from the Albion Hotel. A real shame but luckily nobody was injured. There is much local speculation about the cause of the fire and criticism of the owners. There is also a huge amount of disruption to nearby businesses, public transport and general traffic flow with the road closures around the hotel. Trying to cross east to west now takes an hour rather than 30 minutes. Let's hope it's all sorted out by the time you return.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt you remember when The West Pier burned down. Speculation was rife! We're not back for about six weeks, so I imagine they would have sorted-out the traffic flow by then. I hope so.
DeleteTragic. Reports today of fire in parts of the building not previously involved, and firefighters returned to the site.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds dreadful. It sounds as if they need to leave firefighters there for a while.
DeleteIt's sad to see a building destroyed by fire. It may be too badly burned to save, but will they build another hotel in it's place or, given the prime location, a block of luxury flats?
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