Royal Victoria Hotel

The Royal Victoria Hotel, located in St Leonards on Sea, was built in 1828 by James Burton and underwent significant alterations in 1903. The building is stuccoed with a slate mansard roof and consists of five storeys plus an attic. Its facade features a window arrangement of 1:3:3:3:1, with the central and end sections projecting and topped with pediments. The three central windows extend through the attic and display the Royal coat of arms in the pediment. The second and third floors are adorned with a giant order of pilasters that support an entablature, and giant Corinthian columns are located at the center and ends. The second floor includes canted bay windows with ogee-shaped roofs, and there is a bracketed eaves cornice along the roofline. The mansard roof features pedimented dormers, and the rendered chimney stack has large cornices.

On the ground and first floors, the central section projects and is supported by Corinthian columns that hold up an entablature. To the right, there is a large round-arched window, and to the left, a doorway with a cast iron canopy above. The right side of the building has a modern outbuilding, while the left features a two-bay arcade with a balustraded balcony above.

The hotel was originally named St Leonards Hotel and was built between 1828 and 1829. It became a favored meeting place for the Royal Family, hosting notable guests such as Queen Victoria, King George V, Prince Albert, Princess Louise, Edward VII, and Edward Prince of Wales. Following the French February Revolution of 1848, Louis Philippe stayed here and was visited by Guizot and Thiers. Other distinguished visitors included Gladstone, Palmerston, Tennyson, the King of the Belgians, HRH the Grand Duke of Baden, and the Duke of Saxe Cobourg Gotha.

The Royal Victoria Hotel is part of a group that includes Nos 36 to 44 and No 40A (Eastern Colonnade), Nos 48 to 53 (Western Colonnade), No 57, and Nos 60 to 62, with Nos 60, 61, and 62 being of local interest only.