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Royal Albion Hotel
The Royal Albion Hotel (originally the Albion Hotel) is a 3-star hotel, on the corner of Old Steine and Kings Road in Brighton, England. Built on the site of a house belonging to Richard Russell, a local doctor whose advocacy of sea-bathing and seawater drinking helped to make Brighton fashionable in the 18th century, it has been extended several times, although it experienced a period of rundown and closure in the early 20th century. A fire in 1998 caused serious damage, and the hotel was restored. However, another fire in 2023 seriously damaged the building to the extent that demolition of the western part of the building began on 19 July 2023.
The Classical-style building has three parts of different sizes and dates but similar appearances. Large pilasters and columns of various orders feature prominently. Amon Henry Wilds, an important and prolific local architect, took the original commission on behalf of promoter John Colbatch. Another local entrepreneur, Harry Preston, restored the hotel to its former high status after buying it in poor condition. The building took on its present three-wing form in 1963. The original part of the building was listed at Grade II* by English Heritage for its architectural and historical importance, and its western extension is listed separately at the lower Grade II.
The site itself is connected with the life and career of Richard Russell, a doctor who advocated sea water as a cure of ailments. After Russell's death in 1759, Old Steine developed as the centre of fashionable life in Brighton. Russell House, as it became known, was used as lodgings for visitors such as the Duke of Cumberland, and later became an entertainment venue with activities such as a puppet theatre, a camera obscura and resident jugglers.
In the 1820s, it passed to entrepreneur John Colbatch, who demolished it in 1823. The local authorities tried to arrange for the land to be kept as open space, but negotiations collapsed and Colbatch began planning the construction of a hotel.
Colbatch commissioned young architect Amon Henry Wilds, who began planning the hotel in 1822. Wilds, the son of Amon Wilds and an associate of Charles Busby, had been responsible for many building schemes in Brighton from about 1815, when he and his father moved their architectural practice to Brighton. Schemes already completed by 1822 included King's Road and Brighton Unitarian Church. The hotel was built on a corner site at the point where Old Steine met King's Road, and like Russell House the main façade faced away from the sea, towards Old Steine. The four-storey structure opened on 5 August 1826.
The venture was immediately successful, and a stylistically similar five-storey extension was added to the west in about 1847. At the same time, the name was changed from the Albion Hotel. Six years earlier, one of Brighton's most important cultural establishments was established in a ground-floor room: the Albion Rooms Literary and Scientific Institution combined the functions of library, lecture theatre and museum. The venture eventually became unsustainable, and the institution's members presented the accumulated books, artefacts and pictures to Brighton Corporation, the local authority. This led to the establishment of the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery and Brighton Library in the grounds of the Royal Pavilion.
The hotel fell into disrepair in the late 19th century, and was closed in 1900. Harry Preston, owner of the nearby Royal York Hotel, bought it in 1913 for £13,500 (£1,347,000 in 2025), and quickly restored its fashionable reputation. The building was completely refurbished, additions were made, and well-known literary figures, artists and entertainers regularly stayed. The extensions carried out around this time, in the Edwardian style typical of the period, included a sea-facing lounge at the rear of the hotel, and were carried out by Brighton architectural firm Clayton & Black. Started in the 1870s by Charles Clayton and Ernest Black and continued by their sons, this firm was one of Brighton's most prolific designers of public buildings and churches over the next 60 years.
In 1856, another hotel had been built west of the Royal Albion on land previously occupied by Williams's Royal Hot and Cold Baths, an indoor bath-house. The Lion Mansion Hotel was architecturally similar to the Royal Albion, and rose to four storeys. It was later known as the Adelphi Hotel. In 1963, it was taken over by the Royal Albion, and became physically linked to it as a west wing.
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Royal Albion Hotel
The Royal Albion Hotel (originally the Albion Hotel) is a 3-star hotel, on the corner of Old Steine and Kings Road in Brighton, England. Built on the site of a house belonging to Richard Russell, a local doctor whose advocacy of sea-bathing and seawater drinking helped to make Brighton fashionable in the 18th century, it has been extended several times, although it experienced a period of rundown and closure in the early 20th century. A fire in 1998 caused serious damage, and the hotel was restored. However, another fire in 2023 seriously damaged the building to the extent that demolition of the western part of the building began on 19 July 2023.
The Classical-style building has three parts of different sizes and dates but similar appearances. Large pilasters and columns of various orders feature prominently. Amon Henry Wilds, an important and prolific local architect, took the original commission on behalf of promoter John Colbatch. Another local entrepreneur, Harry Preston, restored the hotel to its former high status after buying it in poor condition. The building took on its present three-wing form in 1963. The original part of the building was listed at Grade II* by English Heritage for its architectural and historical importance, and its western extension is listed separately at the lower Grade II.
The site itself is connected with the life and career of Richard Russell, a doctor who advocated sea water as a cure of ailments. After Russell's death in 1759, Old Steine developed as the centre of fashionable life in Brighton. Russell House, as it became known, was used as lodgings for visitors such as the Duke of Cumberland, and later became an entertainment venue with activities such as a puppet theatre, a camera obscura and resident jugglers.
In the 1820s, it passed to entrepreneur John Colbatch, who demolished it in 1823. The local authorities tried to arrange for the land to be kept as open space, but negotiations collapsed and Colbatch began planning the construction of a hotel.
Colbatch commissioned young architect Amon Henry Wilds, who began planning the hotel in 1822. Wilds, the son of Amon Wilds and an associate of Charles Busby, had been responsible for many building schemes in Brighton from about 1815, when he and his father moved their architectural practice to Brighton. Schemes already completed by 1822 included King's Road and Brighton Unitarian Church. The hotel was built on a corner site at the point where Old Steine met King's Road, and like Russell House the main façade faced away from the sea, towards Old Steine. The four-storey structure opened on 5 August 1826.
The venture was immediately successful, and a stylistically similar five-storey extension was added to the west in about 1847. At the same time, the name was changed from the Albion Hotel. Six years earlier, one of Brighton's most important cultural establishments was established in a ground-floor room: the Albion Rooms Literary and Scientific Institution combined the functions of library, lecture theatre and museum. The venture eventually became unsustainable, and the institution's members presented the accumulated books, artefacts and pictures to Brighton Corporation, the local authority. This led to the establishment of the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery and Brighton Library in the grounds of the Royal Pavilion.
The hotel fell into disrepair in the late 19th century, and was closed in 1900. Harry Preston, owner of the nearby Royal York Hotel, bought it in 1913 for £13,500 (£1,347,000 in 2025), and quickly restored its fashionable reputation. The building was completely refurbished, additions were made, and well-known literary figures, artists and entertainers regularly stayed. The extensions carried out around this time, in the Edwardian style typical of the period, included a sea-facing lounge at the rear of the hotel, and were carried out by Brighton architectural firm Clayton & Black. Started in the 1870s by Charles Clayton and Ernest Black and continued by their sons, this firm was one of Brighton's most prolific designers of public buildings and churches over the next 60 years.
In 1856, another hotel had been built west of the Royal Albion on land previously occupied by Williams's Royal Hot and Cold Baths, an indoor bath-house. The Lion Mansion Hotel was architecturally similar to the Royal Albion, and rose to four storeys. It was later known as the Adelphi Hotel. In 1963, it was taken over by the Royal Albion, and became physically linked to it as a west wing.