Royal York Buildings, Old Steine, Brighton

Image: © Simon Carey Taken: 11 Oct 2015

Originally built as three houses around 1801 but converted into a hotel in 1818 and opened as the Royal York Hotel the following year. The establishment became popular and expanded in 1827 to form the current building. Visitors included royalty, Benjamin Disraeli and Charles Dickens though by the end of the 19th century it had fallen on hard times. After a brief surge in popularity in the early 20th century the building was eventually sold to the council in 1929 who converted it into offices. It was converted back into a hotel in 2006 but it never took off and was closed in 2014. It was then sold to the Youth Hostel Association who reopened it in 2015 and promoted it using an 18 year old Alan Partridge joke, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGG5OhEcpOQ The derelict building on the left is number 39 Old Steine also known as Lace House which was built around 1860 on the site of a former 18th century library. It may have been an ordinary residence but in the early 1920s it was converted into a motor showroom, see http://www.mybrightonandhove.org.uk/images/uploaded/originals/Steine_showroom.jpg which it remained until the end of the 1970s. The building was converted to offices but appears to be empty at the moment. The black 'mark' on the facing corner is this, Image

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