Former BR offices which have been turned into hotels

[gordonthemoron]

Last weekend we stayed at Voco Grand Central at Glasgow Central, has this always been a hotel, or did it use to be BR offices?

Others I know of, or suspect being:

St Pancras, which were used by BR as offices for a while, was it originally built as a hotel?

The Landmark opposite Marylebone Station, which used to be 222 Marylebone Road.

The Grand York which I think used to be Eastern Region HQ.

Are there anymore?

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

The Radisson RED Hotel next to Lime Streeet Station, Liverpool was originally built as the North Western Hotel. It closed in 1933 when the Adelphi opened, used by the LMS and BR as offices for a while, then derelict for years, then student accomodation and now back to a hotel.

The St.Pancras and Marylebone ones were built as hotels, became offices, and now back to hotels. Grand Central, Glasgow has always been a hotel. The Grand York was originally built as the North Eastern Rly's H.Q.

 

[greaterwest]

White Rose Court in Woking was a BR/SWT office, but is now a Travelodge.

 

[Magdalia]

St Pancras, which were used by BR as offices for a while, was it originally built as a hotel?

Yes, the original hotel was closed by the LMSR in 1935. The St Pancras Chambers offices were closed in I think 1984.

 

[swt_passenger]

Is there a common factor, that by the mid 20th century many original railway built hotels had become obsolete in terms of expected guest facilities, and were often very difficult to upgrade with modern en-suite bathrooms etc?

 

[John Webb]

Last weekend we stayed at Voco Grand Central at Glasgow Central, has this always been a hotel, or did it use to be BR offices?

Others I know of, or suspect being:

St Pancras, which were used by BR as offices for a while, was it originally built as a hotel?.....

It was built in the late 1860s/early 1870s, opening as the Midland Grand to its first guests in May 1873, although the building was not fully completed until 1877.
It closed to passengers in 1935. The man reason seems to have been the development twenty to forty years after it opened of more modern hotels in newer architectural styles and with better equipped facilities, all more popular to users. (In particular more bathrooms.) The Midland Grand lost out after the railway amalgamations of 1923 to the LMS's (LNWR) newer hotel at Euston. It was used as offices and staff accommodation into BR Days, particularly by the LMS and then BR's hotel/catering arm.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 1 Sep 2024 ==

Is there a common factor, that by the mid 20th century many original railway built hotels had become obsolete in terms of expected guest facilities, and were often very difficult to upgrade with modern en-suite bathrooms etc?

Yes - and this applied to many non-railway hotels of the 1850s-1890s as well.

 

[Clarence Yard]

Melton House, Clarendon Road, Watford is now a hotel, doing a roaring trade with visitors to Harry Potter. It was built in the early 1960’s as a BR office block.

Great Northern House, 79-81 Euston Road, London was built in the mid to late 1950’s as an office block, leased to BR and was the HQ for, firstly, the Great Northern Line of ER, then the Divisional HQ for the KX Division. It eventually became a youth hostel and is now a cheap youth orientated hotel.

 

[Bertone]

In the mid 1700’s, the first Earl of Clarendon named Thomas Villers, owned a substantial stately pile just outside Watford and this was in the Villers family until the 1920’s when it was sold due to death duties.
It was then used for various purposes until 1940 when it became the wartime HQ for the LMS.
Subsequntly, it was the Management training centre for the British Transport Commission and later for British Rail.

Now to get to the point, this Stately House is now a very expensive luxury hotel called The Grove.

My claim to fame is that I bumped into Priscilla Presley and various English footballers when the team were staying there having played an International match at Wembley.

 

[Buzby]

Last weekend we stayed at Voco Grand Central at Glasgow Central, has this always been a hotel, or did it use to be BR offices?

As I discovered on Central Station tour, it was originally to have been Railway Offices for the company, but better minds thought it would be better for the customer to be closer and they would seek a nearby building instead. AIUI it was built as the Central Hotel.

The compromise turned out to be Central Chambers at 93-105 Hope Street (directly opposite Gordon Street entrance where the Central Station taxi rank was originally located). I’m not clear if they actually built Central Chambers or simply leased/rented it as an existing building for their offices, as that wasn’t explained.

 

[Springs Branch]

If we're allowed Air BnBs as well as traditional hotels - then I'll nominate the former BR (ER) Holgate Villa office block at Lowther Terrace in York

The original utilitarian 1950s building has been renovated as apartments. I've stayed in one of these which is/was run as an Air BnB. Judging by the variety of different couples I encountered on a daily basis - all towing wheely cases & referring to paper print-outs or e-mails on their phones whilst struggling with the building's keypad entry - I'd say a good proportion of the other apartments are short-term lets too.

No surprise, as the location is very handy for York station. Even better until the Lowther Terrace short-cut through the station carpark got blocked off.

My stay was in an upper floor apartment which faces the southern end of York station. Many a pleasant evening was spent after Mrs. S.B. had retired to bed with her library book, with me sitting by the window, lights dimmed and a wee dram in hand, RTT and Traksy running on the iPad, watching the comings and goings on the ECML in comfort.

 

[rower40]

In the mid 1700’s, the first Earl of Clarendon named Thomas Villers, owned a substantial stately pile just outside Watford and this was in the Villers family until the 1920’s when it was sold due to death duties.
It was then used for various purposes until 1940 when it became the wartime HQ for the LMS.
Subsequntly, it was the Management training centre for the British Transport Commission and later for British Rail.

Now to get to the point, this Stately House is now a very expensive luxury hotel called The Grove.

My claim to fame is that I bumped into Priscilla Presley and various English footballers when the team were staying there having played an International match at Wembley.

Chris Green gave a talk to my year's intake of Graduate Trainees there. Not quite Priscilla.

 

[Tio Terry]

Grosvenor House in Norwich was once the Divisional Office, then the Area Office, during BR days. It's now been converted into flats.

 

[Amlag]

The Great Western Hotel at Taunton bought in 2018 by and run by the YMCA, was originally a Railway Hotel that became railway offices incl latterly, until the 80’s, used by the Taunton District Civil Engineer organisation and also used as the Taunton Area Manager’s offices and then more recently used by non railway businesses, before standing empty for some years.

 

[Bald Rick]

Apparently at the Grand York (ex ‘Main HQ’) you can ask to stay in a specific room if you know which one your office was! I do intend to make use of that facility one day.

 

[Merle Haggard]

In the mid 1700’s, the first Earl of Clarendon named Thomas Villers, owned a substantial stately pile just outside Watford and this was in the Villers family until the 1920’s when it was sold due to death duties.
It was then used for various purposes until 1940 when it became the wartime HQ for the LMS.
Subsequntly, it was the Management training centre for the British Transport Commission and later for British Rail.

Now to get to the point, this Stately House is now a very expensive luxury hotel called The Grove.

My claim to fame is that I bumped into Priscilla Presley and various English footballers when the team were staying there having played an International match at Wembley.

On a (B.R.) course there I was charged with giving a talk about it. I discovered (can't remember the source but obviously pre-Wiki) that it was at one time the residence of Fanny and Johnny Craddock - I think after its railway use in the war and before becoming the management training centre, and rented from B.R..

//

Having worked at 222 I managed to talk my way into the hotel (while waiting for a diverted G.W.R. H.S.T. departure) - the doorman said that this was a not infrequent request - and rather embarrassingly to me, a young man and a young women held open the double doors with a flourish to let me in. I didn't dare go far, but the grand staircase seemed just the same as I remember it, and the coats of arms of towns served by the G.C. , and its own arms, were still there in stained glass. Perhaps some hotel guests are puzzled by the relevance of, for instance, the Barnsley one.

Melton House, Clarendon Road, Watford is now a hotel, doing a roaring trade with visitors to Harry Potter. It was built in the early 1960’s as a BR office block.

Great Northern House, 79-81 Euston Road, London was built in the mid to late 1950’s as an office block, leased to BR and was the HQ for, firstly, the Great Northern Line of ER, then the Divisional HQ for the KX Division. It eventually became a youth hostel and is now a cheap youth orientated hotel.

The E.R. H.Q. moved from G.N. House to York I think in the 1980s.

Coincidentally, both these locations were used as H.Q. offices by parts of the R.F.D. organisation, who for some reason seemed to outstay their welcome wherever they settled, and had to move on frequently. We were used to being nomadic and at least our top-of-the-range coffee percolator was portable.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

The E.R. H.Q. moved to York in 1967 when the North Eastern Region was abolished. For the aborted McKinsey 'field organisation' the brutalist and monstrous Hudson House was built - mercifully demolished in 2018 and replaced by houses, apartments and a hotel.

 

[Phil R]

The top floor(s) of Tournament House at Paddington are now an extension of the adjacent Great Western Hotel (or whatever it's called these days). A former colleague has slept where he used to work.

 

[furnessvale]

Does the Hilltop Hotel, Carlisle count? Not former offices but a former footplate lodge.

 

[Grumpy]

The E.R. H.Q. moved to York in 1967 when the North Eastern Region was abolished. For the aborted McKinsey 'field organisation' the brutalist and monstrous Hudson House was built - mercifully demolished in 2018 and replaced by houses, apartments and a hotel.

Hudson house was built in the 1960’s,driven by the NER/ER merger ie well before the field proposals

 

[Merle Haggard]

The ca. 1961 office block outside Plymouth station which started life as the Divisional Headquarters was, on a recent-ish call at the station, being converted to student accommodation. Not a hotel, but probably close in practice!

 

[Rescars]

Is there a common factor, that by the mid 20th century many original railway built hotels had become obsolete in terms of expected guest facilities, and were often very difficult to upgrade with modern en-suite bathrooms etc?

IIRC, the chairman of the LMS said trying to modernise the Midland Grand was like "trying to change the face of Mount Everest". Despite that, it has scrubbed up rather well in the post St Pancras Chambers era - a process initially begun with some masonry cleaning during BR days. Sir Peter Parker commented on "the return of the pink Pancras".

 

[Pub]

Not quite hotels or offices but the former Traincrew lodging building in Gresty Rd Crewe is now a YMCA

 

[Grumpy]

Does the former Derby training school count? I believe it is now a hotel/conference centre.
Not quite Priscilla Presley, but I was on a course there when an after dinner speaker was Brian Clough.
His talk was something like "how I manage". Spoke for about 40 minutes without any notes.

 

[AndrewP]

The E.R. H.Q. moved from G.N. House to York I think in the 1980s.

Coincidentally, both these locations were used as H.Q. offices by parts of the R.F.D. organisation, who for some reason seemed to outstay their welcome wherever they settled, and had to move on frequently. We were used to being nomadic and at least our top-of-the-range coffee percolator was portable.

GN House was also used by the BR Property Board for a number of years until they moved along Euston Road to Fitzroy House

 

[John Webb]

IIRC, the chairman of the LMS said trying to modernise the Midland Grand was like "trying to change the face of Mount Everest". Despite that, it has scrubbed up rather well in the post St Pancras Chambers era - a process initially begun with some masonry cleaning during BR days. Sir Peter Parker commented on "the return of the pink Pancras".

The works to convert it back to a hotel were quite remarkable - here are three photos taken during a visit I was able to make during the reconstruction.
Rooms previously used as offices:


(Note the fixings still on the ceiling to hold a suspended ceiling!)

The famous staircase under renovation - the steps and landings have all been protected by plywood to avoid damage during the works.
(I was with a group of fellow heritage fire safety experts - we were looking particularly at the novel sprinkler system being installed to protect the building.)

 

[Bald Rick]

The works to convert it back to a hotel were quite remarkable - here are three photos taken during a visit I was able to make during the reconstruction.
Rooms previously used as offices:
View attachment 164859
View attachment 164860
(Note the fixings still on the ceiling to hold a suspended ceiling!)
View attachment 164861
The famous staircase under renovation - the steps and landings have all been protected by plywood to avoid damage during the works.
(I was with a group of fellow heritage fire safety experts - we were looking particularly at the novel sprinkler system being installed to protect the building.)

Those stairs are quite “zig-a-zig ahh”

 

[railfan99]

The Great Western Hotel at Taunton bought in 2018 by and run by the YMCA, was originally a Railway Hotel that became railway offices incl latterly, until the 80’s, used by the Taunton District Civil Engineer organisation and also used as the Taunton Area Manager’s offices and then more recently used by non railway businesses, before standing empty for some years.

I stayed there in 2023: enjoyable. No noise from other guests. High ceilings.

Incredibly, it dates from 1848.

 

[Rescars]

The works to convert it back to a hotel were quite remarkable - here are three photos taken during a visit I was able to make during the reconstruction.
Rooms previously used as offices:
View attachment 164859
View attachment 164860
(Note the fixings still on the ceiling to hold a suspended ceiling!)
View attachment 164861
The famous staircase under renovation - the steps and landings have all been protected by plywood to avoid damage during the works.
(I was with a group of fellow heritage fire safety experts - we were looking particularly at the novel sprinkler system being installed to protect the building.)

Hideous they may have been, but the suspended ceilings were rather welcome in the St Pancras Chambers era - they kept warmth nearer to the floor. The building had very little central heating and most of the offices were heated with electric storage heaters of dubious efficiency. Shorthand typist were known to bring their own cushions to work in the winter so they could perch on said heaters to take dictation at least in a little comfort!

 

[318 Ayrline]

On a (B.R.) course there I was charged with giving a talk about it. I discovered (can't remember the source but obviously pre-Wiki) that it was at one time the residence of Fanny and Johnny Craddock - I think after its railway use in the war and before becoming the management training centre, and rented from B.R..

//

Having worked at 222 I managed to talk my way into the hotel (while waiting for a diverted G.W.R. H.S.T. departure) - the doorman said that this was a not infrequent request - and rather embarrassingly to me, a young man and a young women held open the double doors with a flourish to let me in. I didn't dare go far, but the grand staircase seemed just the same as I remember it, and the coats of arms of towns served by the G.C. , and its own arms, were still there in stained glass. Perhaps some hotel guests are puzzled by the relevance of, for instance, the Barnsley one.





The E.R. H.Q. moved from G.N. House to York I think in the 1980s.

Coincidentally, both these locations were used as H.Q. offices by parts of the R.F.D. organisation, who for some reason seemed to outstay their welcome wherever they settled, and had to move on frequently. We were used to being nomadic and at least our top-of-the-range coffee percolator was portable.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 Sep 2024 ==

Some of the staff will take you round the hotel that was 222 to show you your old office if you worked there like me .I was on the fifth floor

 

[D365]

The Landmark opposite Marylebone Station, which used to be 222 Marylebone Road.

Is this what was formerly known as Melbury House / Blandford House? (I’m finding it hard to find specific details online)