Queens Hotel

The Queen's Hotel is a large hotel built in 1838 by architects RW and C Jearrad on the site of the former Sherborne Spa at a cost of £47,000. It is constructed of stucco over brick with a slate roof. The exterior is four storeys high, with a facade of 13 first-floor windows arranged in a 4:5:4 pattern, and a recessed three-window range to the right. Stucco detailing includes horizontal rustication on the ground floor, drawn into voussoirs over window recesses, with crowns and 'VR' motifs to the keystones. Deep round-arched recesses and panelled reveals feature around the windows and entrance. The ground floor projects outwards and is topped by three-quarter engaged columns with capitals inspired by the Temple of Jupiter in Rome, which project further to the centre with a hexastyle pedimented portico. A dentil entablature with a modillion cornice completes the facade. The ground floor windows are mostly 3/6 sashes with radial glazing bars to the heads. First and second floors have mainly 6/6 sash windows, the first floor sashes being taller. Third-floor windows are 3/3 sashes. The central entrance has double, glazed doors and a fanlight. The interior retains original plasterwork and joinery. The hotel is considered one of the finest early Victorian English hotels, and a detailed description and its international significance can be found in Pevsner's 1976 publication. The Queen's Hotel is a notable early example of the larger hotels constructed in resort towns before the rise of railway hotels. It was originally built on the Promenade, laid out in 1818 as a tree-lined avenue, and it opened on 21 July 1838 with Richard Liddell as the first lessee. The original hotel had over 120 bedrooms, 25 sitting rooms, accommodation for servants, drawing rooms, coffee and billiard rooms. During the Second World War, it served as an American Services Club. Described by Verey as “a very strong design”, the hotel is a significant landmark within Cheltenham. Notable guests have included Edward VII (when Prince of Wales), Prince Louis Jerome Napoleon, the Rajah of Sarawak, Elgar, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.