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One of Brighton's best known hotels is back in action again after a gap of almost 80 years.

The Royal York in Old Steine was at its peak soon after its opening and also early last century, when it was run by Harry Preston, a hotelier with a flair for publicity.

But after he gave the hotel up, the building was bought by Brighton Council and converted into offices.

The site was originally occupied by the old manor house of Brighton, which was built early in the 18th century.

In 1771, it was bought by Richard Scrase, joint lord of the manor, as houses. It was then bought in 1801 by a Dr Hall who extended it.

The buildings were converted into a hotel in 1819, called Royal York after Frederick Duke of York, brother of the Prince Regent. It was managed by Charles Shepherd who also ran the Star and Garter pub on the seafront.

It was the first major hotel in Brighton and its success led to the construction of many others, including the Royal Albion next door.

The Royal York had more than 100 beds, a lot for the time. Following the closure of the nearby Castle Inn, it became the most fashionable hotel in Brighton.

It staged concerts and recitals, while the first of many fishermen's balls was held there in 1823. It was enlarged four years later and the old manor house was pulled down at the same time.

The Duke and Duchess of Clarence, later to become King William IV and Queen Adelaide, returning from a trip to France, stayed at the Royal York in 1829.

They disembarked from the Admiralty Yacht, moored at the Chain Pier. A band played outside and people in Old Steine called out until they appeared on the balcony over the portico.

The Royal couple had a suite of rooms which are still in use today as the William, Adelaide and Clarence suites. In those days, hotels were designed for guests who rented a suite of rooms. The idea of communal dining rooms and sitting areas came many years later.

The apartments in the Royal York were elegantly furnished and were popular with the fashionable set who came to Brighton and to the Court at the Royal Pavilion, only a few yards away.

Sadly, the old visitors' book has not survived but many famous people stayed there. They included the Duke and Duchess of Richmond and the Duke and Duchess of Argyll after attending Brighton races in 1822.

Later in the same year, the Marquess of Salisbury dined there.

So did the Speaker of the House of Commons, Henry Manners-Sutton.

The hotel has found details of when the Duke of York sent a piece of a large sturgeon from the Pavilion over to the Royal York Hotel for the Russian Ambassador to enjoy.

Novelists Charles Dickens, William Thackeray and Harrison Ainsworth were also all visitors.

Dickens gave readings from David Copperfield and there is a reference to the Royal York in Thackeray's Vanity Fair, which was partly based in Brighton.

In 1840, Benjamin Disraeli was a guest at the Royal York. His rival, William Gladstone, was seen coming out of the main entrance to the hotel and talking to the Austrian Ambassador in March 1894.

Gladstone often came to Brighton.

The Royal York declined in the second half of the 19th century and became almost derelict. Luckily, in 1901, the hotel was brought by the flamboyant Harry Preston, who extended and modernised it.

Preston, who was later knighted, had been a boxer and was friends with many of the great sportsmen of his day, such as WG Grace, the cricketer. Many of them became regular guests at the hotel.

Preston was keen on aviation and among the guests was Wilbur Wright, soon after his first flight.

Sir Henry Wood, who founded the Proms, also stayed there.

Lloyd George, soon to become wartime Prime Minister, entertained friends at the Royal York in 1910.

Sir Harry also bought the Royal Albion and undertook a similar transformation. But he sold them both in 1929. The Albion stayed as a hotel but the Royal York was converted extremely unsympathetically into offices.

For a time it even housed the town's register office but this eventually moved to a much better position in Brighton Town Hall.

Brighton and Hove City Council left the building in 2003. It then stood empty until it was bought by the Imperial Property Company in 2006.

The current owners have refurbished the building and restored it to its former glory. Their aim is to bring back the fun, the colour and the vibrancy of the Regency period when the hotel first opened.

Many of the great names who stayed there have been remembered in the renovated hotel, which has recently opened to the public.

11:08am Monday 21st April 2008

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