Grand Hotel

The Grand Hotel is a building originally constructed as a warehouse in 1867 by the architects Mills and Murgatroyd, who later altered it into a hotel in 1883. The structure is made of sandstone ashlar and has a large, almost square plan. It features an eclectic classical style with a basement and five storeys, arranged in a symmetrical 3:5:3 bay configuration facing Aytoun Street. The central bay is slightly recessed and has rusticated piers at the ground floor, which are accented by alternating bands of raised punch-dressed masonry.

Above the ground floor, the first and second floors of the outer bays are designed as pilastered arcades with round-headed arches, complete with carved imposts and keyed heads. A modillioned cornice sits above the second floor, followed by a pilastered third floor and a panelled frieze topped with a prominent mutuled cornice. The shallow attic storey features pilasters on the outer bays, with a 20th-century second attic added above.

The central entrance is a round-headed arch, set beneath a segmental-arched cornice supported by elaborate consoles adorned with masks. The ground floor has segmental-headed cross-window casement windows, while the first floor features pedimented cross-windows and the second floor has round-headed cross-windows. The third floor contains small coupled round-headed windows, and the attic has small coupled windows as well. The left return to Hope Street and the right return to Chatham Street both have a 3:6:3 bay arrangement in a matching style, with banded chimneys positioned between the bays.