Grosvenor Hotel

The Grosvenor Hotel is a hotel built between 1863 and 1866. It was started by TM Penson and completed by RK Penson and Ritchie for the second Marquis of Westminster. The building features stone-dressed brown Flemish bond brick and timber framing with plaster panels, topped with steep grey slate roofs.

The exterior consists of four storeys with seven window bays, plus a basement and attics, designed in a quasi Vernacular Revival style. The first storey has a nine-bay colonnade, possibly inspired by 13th-century architecture, with painted cylindrical columns that have stone plinths and capitals. The west side has a stone abutment and a bay with a pair of cross-windows, while the upper storeys are nearly symmetrical. The central bay is flanked by gabled projecting bays, each with two windows, and there are tourelles at each corner.

The windows on the second and third storeys are mullioned and transomed, with stone dressing on the second storey and the projecting bays of the third storey, as well as on the corbelled tourelles. The third storey and all of the fourth storey are expressed as timber framing, likely applied. The tourelles feature oriel windows on the third and fourth storeys. The fourth storey has a quadruple sash in the central bay, paired triple sashes in the projecting bays, and a mix of triple, dual, and single sashes elsewhere. The front gables have paired dual sashes, a gabled roof, and dormer triple sashes on either side of the front gables. The gables are adorned with unique bracing and ornate bargeboards, while the tourelles have spires. Stone-banded brick chimneys add to the detail.

The west side, facing the Grosvenor-Laing Precinct (formerly Newgate Street), has similar composition and detailing as the front but is shorter and lacks the colonnade. A canted stone panel at the corner displays the Grosvenor Arms, the hotel name, and the Grosvenor sheaf. The interior is well appointed but does not contain any individual features of special interest.