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Description: | 'South Western Hotel' was opened in 1867. It was however originally called the 'Imperial Hotel's. It was renamed 'South Western Hotel' in 1870 and was bought by the London South West Railway in 1882. They were the same company who owned Southampton Docks and the railway. LSWR then leased it to Spiers and Pond Ltd, who employed a gentleman called Arthur Banks to manage it.
In order to attract wealthy guests the hotel was modernised by the famous and fashionable decorating firm Maples. Alterations were made to the building, new furniture was added, and brand new electric lifts were installed. This was a novelty for their guests as electric lifts was a relatively new invention. The refurbishment cost £28,000.
The hotel was located next to the old town station. It was also very close to the dock gates and so provided an ideal location for business travellers to stay.
Although the same building stands today, the hotel has actually been turned into luxury apartments, and has been renamed 'South Western House'. | Format: | image/jpeg | License: | http://www.sopse.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.exe?a=query&p=gateway&f=generic_sitetext%2ehtm&_IXFIRST_=1&_IXMAXHITS_=1&cms_con_core_subtype%3acms_con_text_what=copyright&%3acms_sys_group=%22sopse%22 | Rights holder: | Hampshire Library and Information Service - Hampshire County Council | Subjects: | Arthur Banks South Western hotel South Western House London South West Railway hotel Spiers and Pond Ltd Maples Imperial Hotel | Temporal: | start=2004-08-09; | Source: | Sense of place SE | Creator: | Zoe Darani, Hampshire Library and Information Service | Identifier: | http://www.sopse.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.... | Language: | en-GB | Format: | image/jpeg | Go to resource |
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