[News] Royal Albion hotel on fire, again.

[Weststander]

Let's have a Frank Gehry masterpiece - remember the proposals for the King Alfred under the last Labour Council?

I think you’re mocking that design in that location?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I quite like the Van Allen

View attachment 163606

Fair point. But if you head out along the seafront towards and out of Hove you’ll see some awful architecture.

 

[BN9 BHA]

Fair point. But if you head out along the seafront towards and out of Hove you’ll see some awful architecture.

I can’t think of many buildings along the seafront that have gone up in the last 20 odd years

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I can’t think of many buildings along the seafront that have gone up in the last 20 odd years

They start where the Alibi pub used to be….a really cheaply built block of apartment’s on the seafront. From there you’ll see a number of other cheap looking apartment blocks along the coast road.

And more than 20 years ago but let’s not forget the council promised the earth when they rebuilt the area where the original Concorde was….and we again ended up with cheap architecture which was centred around a Burger King.

At least these got built, I’m still waiting for the new King Alfred, the new Brighton Centre, the West Pier refurb, the Clock Tower John Lewis, the Black Rock arena and a new ice rink the location of which you can take your pick.

 

[PeterT]

If you get one of those friezes of the seafront they used to sell in the Pavilion shop, it shows the buildings from as far west as Palmeira Square from the time it had the glass dome right along the coast into the centre of Brighton. What a magnificent site it was before dodgy fires, greedy developers and incompetent planners got their hands on it.

 

[BN9 BHA]

They start where the Alibi pub used to be….a really cheaply built block of apartment’s on the seafront. From there you’ll see a number of other cheap looking apartment blocks along the coast road.

Of course yes, I was forgetting the area from around King Alfred towards Portslade. They have been built near some apartment blocks that have been there a while, maybe 60s, 70s and 80s.

I’ve heard it’s nice to live by the sea in Hove though

 

[Chicken Run]

My thoughts exactly. Yes I do remember the proposals as I was quite active in the campaign to get the planning permission. I also remember the subsequent Tory council pulling the plug on the scheme.

Mmmm subsequent Tory council, Brighton & Hove council has never been controlled by the Tories

Edit although in 2007 they were the largest party

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Mmmm subsequent Tory council, Brighton & Hove council has never been controlled by the Tories

It was the council which was led/run by the conservative Mary Mears. Her party always opposed the scheme and pulled the plug when she was in charge….and wasted around 5 million of tax payers money in the process I recall.

 

[Chicken Run]

It was the council which was led/run by the conservative Mary Mears. Her party always opposed the scheme and pulled the plug when she was in charge….and wasted around 5 million of tax payers money in the process I recall.

Indeed

 

[surrey jim]

I hope all guests who had holidays booked over the summer can have their bookings honored at another Brighton hotel at the same rate, additionally all staff who worked /lived in there are able to quickly claim for lost possessions and get accommodation/employment locally.

 

[knocky1]

They start where the Alibi pub used to be….a really cheaply built block of apartment’s on the seafront. From there you’ll see a number of other cheap looking apartment blocks along theoad.

And more than 20 years ago but let’s not forget the council promised the earth when they rebuilt the area where the original Concorde was….and we again ended up with cheap architecture which was centred around a Burger King.

At least these got built, I’m still waiting for the new King Alfred, the new Brighton Centre, the West Pier refurb, the Clock Tower John Lewis, the Black Rock arena and a new ice rink the location of which you can take your pick.

Alzate lived up their on the north/west facing side, till the start of last season.
My ugliest block is the one built on the Sackville Hotel site.

 

[Badger Boy]

I hope all guests who had holidays booked over the summer can have their bookings honored at another Brighton hotel at the same rate, additionally all staff who worked /lived in there are able to quickly claim for lost possessions and get accommodation/employment locally.

I'm expecting there to be some bad luck stories to come and stories of hard nosed practicality of business. They won't be helping customers more than they're obliged to, they won't support staff more than they're legally obligated to and they won't be doing anything they're not forced to do.

 

[Chicken Run]

I hope all guests who had holidays booked over the summer can have their bookings honored at another Brighton hotel at the same rate, additionally all staff who worked /lived in there are able to quickly claim for lost possessions and get accommodation/employment locally.

Pride is in a couple of weeks, I bet that hotel was booked solid with those attending that event!

 

[dsr-burnley]

I hear there are other football forums you can frequent. May I suggest Leeds, Burnley, Millwall or Chelsea forums.

Disclaimer: Other narrow minded, knuckle-dragging forums are available.

A bit disappointing that in a post supposedly opposed to bigotry, there are 10 people like a post which is as bigoted as the one it replies to.

I couldn't speak for the forums at Leeds, Millwall, or Chelsea, but what (apart from ignorance and prejudice) have you got against the Burnley forum or forums?

 

[zefarelly]

If they can save the facade then good. Otherwise I’d like to see some exciting iconic new architecture in its place.

So would I.

It’ll never happen.

What ever makes all the ‘right’ people the most amount of money will ne the winningest solution

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

So would I.

It’ll never happen.

What ever makes all the ‘right’ people the most amount of money will ne the winningest solution

There will also, sadly, be a lot of oppostion to anything which might be deemed exciting and modern.

 

[Weststander]

Pride is in a couple of weeks, I bet that hotel was booked solid with those attending that event!

10 to a room I bet

 

[Pinkie Brown]

I think the Royal Albion was already a ‘budget’ hotel as it was owned by Britannia Hotels, one of the worst chains in the country. They seem to pick up old hotels and then spend as little as possible in maintaining them. I hope that is not the cause of this blaze. I see one of the local MPs described them as a slum landlord this morning.

It should be a prime site for a hotel. If they can save the facade maybe someone can rebuild it as a hotel which the city can be proud of.

I heard it was owned by Britannia on Saturday evening. A horrible company with a horrendous reputation of running hotels on the cheap and into the ground plus being awful employers. They hit the headlines early doors Covid by sacking all employees on the spot at one of their Scottish properties and informing those who lived on site they had to leave that day.

A friend stayed at The Albion about 10 years ago. She described it as dingy and dusty with a weird atmosphere about the place. Her room was on the lower level and didn't even have a window. No idea who owned it then. Probably wasn't Britannia.

 

[Neil]

Same happened to the big Victorian Claremont Hotel outside Eastbourne Pier
had to knock most of it down as unsafe after the fire gutted it
As its a Listed building 2 years later still waiting to start rebuilding it
Looks an eyesore

 

[Sergei's Celebration]

It was rather telling of the quality of the hotel that the staff were complimented (and rightly so) for reacting quickly and "clearing the homeless from the stairwells".