The Royal Lion Hotel

The Royal Lion Hotel consists of two separate buildings: the original hotel, No 1, on the right, and No 2, known as Lavallin House, on the left.

No 1 is a large, four-storey structure with a painted stucco finish. It features three bays topped by a parapet with raised blocks between the window bays and a broad band beneath. The building has a plinth and channelled angle piers, with S-shaped scrolls; the right scroll is positioned under the band, while the left scroll connects from the pier to the band, which terminates short. Each side has a four-storey canted bay window with 2-4-2-pane sash windows, and the moulded timber cornices over each floor become heavier towards the top, with the topmost cornice being dentilled. The centre bay contains paired small 4-pane sashes on the upper floors, with the top pair recessed in a longer panel. The first floor features a large 2-4-2-pane tripartite sash window that matches the scale of the bay windows on either side. There is a step up to a centre recessed door set in a stucco rusticated doorcase, which has channelled pilasters, moulded capitals, a stilted cambered head, and a cornice above. A cast-iron 19th-century royal arms is located in the arch, and there is a 20th-century door. A rear wing extends back along White Lion Street.

No 2 has a large painted stucco front with a fine ashlar full entablature, deep frieze, moulded cornice, and low parapet, likely contemporary with the Bath stone front of No 3, which is dated to 1851. This building is three storeys high with a three-window range of plate glass sash windows in moulded stucco shouldered surrounds; the upper floor windows are smaller and have cornices on the main floors. There is no door on this building.

The rear of No 2 is finished in unpainted stucco and features a moulded ashlar cornice and parapet, three dormers, a three-window range, and brick chimneys on the end wall. Ground floor additions extend out to Upper Frog Street, with a roughcast wall, a door to the left, a cambered-arched coach entry in the centre, and a 20th-century window to the right.

The interior of No 1 has been significantly altered on the ground floor for hotel use. In contrast, No 2 retains a main room with elegant mid-19th-century plasterwork, including a cornice with egg-and-dart moulding, a border with leaf and flower scrolls, and a central rose, along with panelled shutters.