At their peak, in the second half of the 19th century, British seaside hotels were Vegas-like in their brash pursuit of profit. They were big stacks of accommodation, packing as much bedroom space as they could behind their cliff-like facades, none-too-sensitive to their prominent locations. They offered as many attractions to their clientele as they could manage – ballrooms, covered connections to railway stations, up-to-date plumbing, separate taps for freshwater and seawater baths. Their grand lobbies and staircases were designed to flatter paying guests with a sense of exclusivity and daunt intruders.
They strove to attract attention with an accelerating turnover of architectural styles. They rapidly evolved from 18th-century coaching inns and converted private houses to purpose-built hotels that at first looked like extra-large Georgian townhouses, then Regency stately homes, then French chateaux, Scottish castles and almost anything their architects and owners could think of.
