Following the development of the York-Scarborough railway in 1845, visitors began to arrive in greatly increased numbers. Looking to profit from this increased tourism, a group of Yorkshire businessmen bought a site on St Nicholas Cliff and appointed the architect Cuthbert Brodrick, who had already designed Leeds Town Hall, to design a magnificent hotel (‘The Cliff Hotel’). It is claimed that the original design was of four towers, 12 floors, 52 chimneys and 365 rooms, representing the seasons, months, weeks and days of the year, although the finished build did not fully conform to this.
Before completion the company hit financial problems and the building was sold at a significant loss to new owners, the Grand Hotel Ltd, in 1865. The hotel was completed in 1867 costing £100,000 and using 6 million bricks and 40,000 cubic feet of stone. The entire public area was carpeted with no less than 11.5 miles of carpet. The magnificent exterior of the hotel was matched by a luxurious interior, with an imposing main staircase, Coffee Room, half-moon shaped Ballroom and Dining Room. On the first floor guests would find the exquisitely decorated Drawing Room. Rooms were appointed with huge bathrooms, as wealthy guests would require space for one or two servants to help with dressing them, and guests could choose to fill their bath with fresh or sea water, the latter drawn directly from the sea by a pipeline.
During World War I the Grand Hotel sustained some damage during the German naval bombardment, although happily no one was injured. By 1930, inflation had begun to affect the economy and prices at the hotel had risen steeply, to 12/6d (62p) for a single room. However, the Grand Hotel continued to be the place to stay in Scarborough and Winston Churchill, for example, was hosted at the hotel several times – he had a particular fondness for Room 140.
During World War II the hotel was requisitioned by the RAF to house trainee airmen and during this time parts of the interior were badly damaged. £100,000 was spent on refurbishment before the hotel re-opened in 1947. By the 1970s, cheap package holidays abroad had lured increasing numbers of people away from the traditional British seaside resort and there was concern that the Grand Hotel might be converted into holiday flats. In fact, it was purchased by Butlin’s in 1979, attracting fresh customers and £2.5m in refurbishments. In November 2004, the hotel was purchased by Britannia Hotels
