Bailey’s Hotel

Lodging in/near Gloucester Road, existing between 1876 and now.

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Lodging · * · ·
December
29
2013
The Bailey’s Hotel, 140 Gloucester Road, is a historic hotel in Kensington.


Bailey’s Hotel was one of the earliest privately built hotels in London, built between 1874 and 1876 by Aldin and Sons under the command of MP Sir James Bailey. He erected the hotel in an upmarket location so as to attract London’s aristocracy and wealthier inhabitants and to be easily accessible through Gloucester Road tube station. When completed the hotel also included nine stables to host a carriage service from the hotel.

In 1877 Bailey extended Bailey’s Hotel along Courtfield Road and in 1881 replaced the stables with a garden and additional buildings, which today houses the Bombay Brasserie restaurant. In 1883 Bailey installed new bedrooms and built a new elevator and installed electric lights in 1890.

By the 1890s Bailey’s Hotel was one of the more successful hotels in London with over 300 rooms, and was popular with international guests. An American tourist guide published in 1891 mentioned the "cosy, homelike atmosphere, which is enhanced by the rich and substantial surroundings" (all for $1 a night at the time). Sultan Abu Bakar of Johor spent his last days in bed at the hotel before dying of pneumonia on 4 June 1895.

At the peak of its success, Bailey sold the hotel to Spiers & Pond Limited in 1894, but remained as Managing Director for several years, as he was elected a Member of Parliament for Walworth, Newington, and was knighted in 1905.

By 1914 Bailey’s Hotel faced stiff competition, with some fourteen hotels in eighteen buildings in close proximity.

During World War II it was hit twice by incendiary bombs, causing a major fire and damage. A further fire broke out in the staff quarters in 1945, damaging the ceilings and floorboards, which meant the building had to be evacuated at a time when it was being used as a provisional hospital.

It wasn’t until 1952-54 that the hotel was renovated, and new bathrooms were added in 1954 and a new bar in 1958. However, the hotel had significantly fallen from grace and was not the elegant, upmarket hotel it had been, and it changed ownership many times. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea protected the hotel from being demolished in the 1970s and 1980s because of its historical value. In the 1970s a room in the hotel cost just $12 a night.

The hotel was completely restored in 1988 and purchased from the Taj Group by Securum Hotel Holdings in 1992, and by City Developments Limited (CDL) in July 1994.

In 1996 it underwent renovation but today the hotel retains many of its Victorian furnishings, including the period fireplaces and grand, spiralling main staircase. The hotel is 5 floors in height and contains 212 rooms.


Main source: Wikipedia
Further citations and sources


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CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LOCALITY

None so far :(
LATEST LONDON-WIDE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PROJECT

Comment
Wendy    
Added: 22 Mar 2024 15:33 GMT   

Polygon Buildings
Following the demolition of the Polygon, and prior to the construction of Oakshott Court in 1974, 4 tenement type blocks of flats were built on the site at Clarendon Sq/Phoenix Rd called Polygon Buildings. These were primarily for people working for the Midland Railway and subsequently British Rail. My family lived for 5 years in Block C in the 1950s. It seems that very few photos exist of these buildings.

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Steve   
Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:42 GMT   

Road construction and houses completed
New Charleville Circus road layout shown on Stanford’s Library Map Of London And Its Suburbs 1879 with access via West Hill only.

Plans showing street numbering were recorded in 1888 so we can concluded the houses in Charleville Circus were built by this date.

Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London

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Comment
Steve   
Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:04 GMT   

Charleville Circus, Sydenham: One Place Study (OPS)
One Place Study’s (OPS) are a recent innovation to research and record historical facts/events/people focused on a single place �’ building, street, town etc.

I have created an open access OPS of Charleville Circus on WikiTree that has over a million members across the globe working on a single family tree for everyone to enjoy, for free, forever.

Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London

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Comment
Charles   
Added: 8 Mar 2024 20:45 GMT   

My House
I want to know who lived in my house in the 1860’s.

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NH   
Added: 7 Mar 2024 11:41 GMT   

Telephone House
Donald Hunter House, formerly Telephone House, was the BT Offices closed in 2000

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Comment
Paul Cox   
Added: 5 Mar 2024 22:18 GMT   

War damage reinstatement plans of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street
Whilst clearing my elderly Mothers house of general detritus, I’ve come across original plans (one on acetate) of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street. Might they be of interest or should I just dispose of them? There are 4 copies seemingly from the one single acetate example. Seems a shame to just junk them as the level of detail is exquisite. No worries if of no interest, but thought I’d put it out there.

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Comment
Diana   
Added: 28 Feb 2024 13:52 GMT   

New Inn Yard, E1
My great grandparents x 6 lived in New Inn Yard. On this date, their son was baptised in nearby St Leonard’s Church, Shoreditch

Source: BDM London, Cripplegate and Shoreditch registers written by church clerk.

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Comment
Vic Stanley   
Added: 24 Feb 2024 17:38 GMT   

Postcose
The postcode is SE15, NOT SE1

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Elm Park Gardens
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Marloes Road, W8
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Earl’s Court, District Line
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In the neighbourhood...

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Springtime, Earl’s Court
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Elm Park Gardens
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Possibly the most Instagramable mews in London, leafy Kynance Mews is hidden away in South Kensington, not so far from Gloucester Road station.
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Plan of the Redcliffe Estate, developed by Corbett and McClymont, 1860s. Until the development in the 1860s, the area was entirely rural, with villages at Earl’s Court and Little Chelsea, and the intervening land occupied by market gardens, grassland and paddocks.
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