Bedford Hotel

The Bedford Hotel, located on The Esplanade, is a building dating from around 1810. Originally, it served as John Wallis's Library and Reading Rooms, a popular meeting place of its time. The hotel was enlarged between 1815 and 1840, with later additions to the Esplanade front. It stands three stories tall, with a stucco façade and a low-pitched hipped slate roof featuring overhanging eaves.

On the Esplanade front, the original section has three windows, while the later second floor features modern casements and a bracketed iron balcony supported by brackets extending to the eaves. The first floor has three windows, with the outer ones being sash windows and a central set of French windows, all with drip moulds above leading to a crenellated terrace. The ground floor is built out and glazed. To the east, there are stepped projecting bays with two-light mullioned and transomed windows, also with drip moulds above. The first floor of the easternmost bay includes a tent-roofed trellis balcony, likely a modern replacement.

The west front showcases a well-designed stucco-faced elevation with three windows. The second floor has three low casements, while the first floor features French windows and balconies with restored tent-shaped canopies. The central window on this front is a canted bay with a balcony that wraps around it.

The Bedford Hotel is part of a group with the Sussex Hotel located on Station Road.