Hotel's 135th birthday (From Bournemouth Echo)

Hotel's 135th birthday

8:00am Tuesday 26th January 2010 in

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IT was just a phone call made from what is now Bournemouth’s Highcliff Marriott Hotel to Downing Street but it helped change the course of the history of the world.

The year was 1940 – a few months after the Second World War had been declared – and the call was made by Clement Attlee, leader of the Labour Party whose executive committee had been meeting at the hotel.

Labour, he told Number 10, would join a national government... but not if Neville Chamberlain remained as prime minister.

Within two hours, King George VI sent for Winston Churchill and asked him to form a government.

That was one fascinating event in the history of the four-star Highcliff Marriott that this week is celebrating its 135th anniversary.

The hotel’s story begins in 1873 when four large terraced houses were built on the West Cliff overlooking the bay. But they were never occupied as houses for within a year a company was formed to finish the work and open the building as a “monster hotel”.

It was called the Highcliffe Mansions, under the proprietorship of one John Kilner who also owned a hotel in nearby Exeter Square.

By February 1875 it was attracting aristocratic patronage, being graced by the likes of the Earl and Countess of Dartmouth, Lord and Lady Vivian, Lady Barbara Legge and her daughters and Lady Charlotte Sturt.

Before the end of the year, the Highcliffe Mansions Hotel boasted no fewer than 50 beds and, in the following decade had changed its name to the Highcliffe Hotel.

In 1902 the hotel was taken over by a company called Highcliffe Hotel Ltd with John Stenbridge appointed manager. He remained in post for the following 38 years.

It was a period that saw the hotel expand, acquiring neighbouring properties, extending to give it a 500ft sea frontage and introducing accommodation for 50 cars, as well as providing a putting green.

Amongst its acquisitions were nine cottages that had been erected in 1831 – very early days in the development of Bournemouth – that had originally been part of the coastguard station.

A cocktail lounge, too, was opened, furnished in the art deco style that was all the rage in the 1930s.

When the Second World War broke out – soon after that historic phone call by Clement Attlee – few could have guessed the clientele who would soon be occupying its plush rooms.

The Highcliffe was requisitioned and became the billet of Canadian and American troops.

After peace was declared, international hotelier Auguste Wild acquired the Highcliffe, adding it to Royal Court Hotel in London’s Sloane Square that he already owned.

The Highcliffe re-opened as a hotel on May 20 1946 with the Labour Party conference following their election victory. But in the next decade its name was about to change.

Bournemouth’s Highcliffe Hotel was not the only hotel bearing the name, for 10 miles down the road at Highcliffe near Christchurch was another.

And, for years, the same names had caused confusion, particularly with the post.

It was clear one had to change its name. The matter was decided by the toss of a coin… and Bournemouth’s hotel lost.

It dropped its ’e’ to become the Highcliff.

The 1960s saw changes ranging from an extension of its drinking and dancing licence up to 2am – one of the first outside of London – and the completion of a cliff top swimming pool.

Closed for modernisation in 1970, the hotel re-opened the following year and became a popular venue for political party conferences.

Over the years prime ministers and prime ministers-to-be such as James Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Tony Blair, rested their heads on the Highcliff’s pillows when attending conferences in the town.

And hundreds of thousands of pounds were spent on continuing the improvements, including converting the old coastguard cottages into luxury bedrooms.

In 1988, the Dorchester-based brewers Eldridge Pope bought the hotel, spending another £3 million developing it, creating the Brasserie St Michel and adding 50 extra bedrooms to raise the total to 160.

Prince Edward officially opened the extension, unveiling a plaque in June 1990.

And that was only the start.

By 1990, Swallow Hotels had become equal partners – the hotel was renamed the Swallow Highcliff Hotel – and embarked on a £6.8 million refurbishment over three years, soon to be followed by a £1.3 million leisure complex with an indoor pool, spa, steam room and gym.

Before the end of the millennium, Eldridge Pope had sold its stake for £620,000 to the Swallow Group who, in turn were bought out for £578 million by Whitbread plc who had earlier acquired the Marriott franchise in Britain, They invested £6.5 million to bring the Bourne- mouth hotel up to Marriott standards.

And, in May 2001, the latest chapter in the hotel’s history saw the official launch of the Highcliff Marriott Hotel.

Over the past 135 years, the famous and the powerful have been guests at the West Cliff hotel. Among them have been the famous economists and Fabian Society members Beatrice and Sydney; Madame Prokofiev, wife of the famous composer; Rudolf Schwartz, conductor of the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra; U Thant, the Burmese diplomat who became United Nations Secretary General and ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev.

Today, after a £4.5m refurbishment of the property three years ago, the hotel is now looking at its best with its Highcliff Grill restaurant, offering international cuisine, its highlight.

And this week the landmark hotel celebrates its 135th anniversary in style.