If walls could talk then there'd certainly be tales aplenty from an iconic hotel which has played host to at least five prime ministers and numerous royals since it opened a little over 160 years ago. The elegant Chester Grosvenor Hotel on Eastgate Street, in the heart of the city, opened its doors on January 1, 1866, amidst much fanfare and celebration.
Back then, one Chester Chronicle reporter trumpeted it as 'fitting for the reception of royalty itself'. This certainly proved to be the case, with Hollywood royalty and actual royalty walking through its elegant doors in the intervening years.
The hotel was commissioned by Richard, the the second marquis of Westminster, who wanted to build a 'much larger and grander' replacement for the Royal Hotel which formerly stood on the site. Prior to that, it had been the site of the Golden Talbot hostelry. A souvenir brochure produced by the Chester Grosvenor some years back reports that the Golden Talbot had probably been on the site since 'long before patrons toasted Drake and the defeat of the Armada'.
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It then merged with its newly built neighbour, the Royal Hotel around 1790. The Royal Hotel, built around 1784, was said to be a fashionable haunt of the gentry. By the mid-19th century, however, it was decided that the city needed a bigger and grander hotel and so the idea for the Chester Grosvenor Hotel was born.
The only part of the Royal which was retained was the 'spacious and beautiful' assembly room, which became a major feature of the 'new' hotel. The hotel, which boasted 70 bedrooms, also had a stable yard for 50 horses, as well as having broughams, wagonettes and gigs available for hire, along with mourning coaches and hearses and an omnibus which met all trains arriving at the new General Station.
The Chester Grosvenor Hotel was built around a 'magnificent courtyard laid out as an ornamental garden with sculpture, and a clock turret, at its centre'. Upstairs, there was a Westminster coffee room 'for ladies, with tables, chairs and sideboards in the best English oak and morocco'. Adjoining this coffee room was also a 'ladies' drawing room furnished in walnut and utrecht velvet and on the same floor there were also commercial and gentlemen's coffee rooms, supper and sitting rooms'.
A number of prime ministers are known to have stayed at the hotel, including William Gladstone, David Lloyd-George, Winston Churchill, Harold Wilson and Ted Heath. Other high profile guests from stage and screen from across the Pond have included Cary Grant, Douglas Fairbanks Junior and Gene Hackman.
The Chester Chronicle produced what was described as an 'encyclopaedic report' into the opening. In it, the reporter described the newly-opened hotel as "a magnificent structure, with rooms fitting for the reception of royalty itself".
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An extremely impressed Chester Chronicle reporter wrote: "The house has been furnished regardless of expense, the object being rather to have everything of the very best make and workmanship than showiness or gawdiness. The style of the furniture and decorations is extremely quiet and nothing can be found here that would outrage the taste of the most fastidious connoisseur. We do not exaggerate when we say that the rooms are fitting for the reception of royalty itself."
The Marquess was closely involved with the arrangements for the new hotel to be built, having made numerous visits and even going as far as stipulating that the clock in the hotel's piazza should only strike the hour. One earlier Chester Chronicle report written when the building was only half completed was said to have criticised the 17th century French Gothic architecture.
This so upset the marquess that he penned a letter of complaint to say "you refer to the new hotel in no measured terms as 'an embodiment of ugliness, and architectural deformity and building incongruity'. "I have no intention here of standing up for such an enormity but I cannot help thinking it is rather premature to express so decided an opinion upon the building before it is half finished."
The Marquess was then said to be content to 'abide by the verdict of the public' who flocked to see the new hotel as soon as it opened its doors. It is said that within a week, several distinguished families had taken up residence for the season, with the ballroom - complete with restored and regilded walls and ceiling - played host to the Infirmary and Winter Assembly Balls.
The first manager of the hotel was a Mr Glasspool, who organised a 'sumptuous' house-warming dinner. Some 170 attended, with the menu including turtle soup, curry of rabbits a l'Indienne, steak and oyster pies, saddles and haunches of mutton, roast hares and pheasants, Puddings a la Grosvenor and Sir Watkin Wynn's Pudding.
Three years later a statue of the Marquess paid for by public subscription was erected in Grosvenor Park, which he had created for the public. He died that same year at the age of 75. Within four years of its opening, the hotel welcomed a very important guest in the form of Edward, Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester. The future king was in town to open the new Town Hall and made the Grosvenor Hotel his base for this three-day visit.
Prime Minister William Gladstone accompanied Earl Grosvenor to welcome the Prince on his arrival at General Station on October 8, 1869. The Prince enjoyed a private suite of eight rooms which was decorated with a specially loaned collection of Louise Rayner watercolour paintings of the city.
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A guide book published in 1890 called The Sights of Chester and How to See Them talked of how the hotel seemed to be enjoying benefiting from the growing tourism market from the US. The guide proudly proclaimed: "The first place an American visitor makes for after landing and seeing Liverpool is Chester and we should think that no American takes a European tour without paying the city a visit. Certainly large numbers of Americans are every summer to be seen in its streets."
The hotel also became known for its members of staff, with head porter Fred Jones getting namechecked in American travel bible, Fielding's Travel Guide to Europe. The guide advised American visitors to pop in to see Fred the next time they visited the city. Since then, the hotel has also played host to a number of Royal visitors, including Princess Grace of Monaco, the late Princess of Wales when she was Lady Diana Spencer and Princess Margaret.
The five star hotel also played host to a legendary fashion designer in the 1930s, when she was in a 10-year relationship with the second Duke of Westminster. Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, better known as Coco Chanel, was in a relationship with the second Duke, Hugh Grosvenor from around 1923 to 1933. She is thought to have been a regular visitor to Eaton Hall and Chester during this time, including attending the city's famous racecourse over the course of her love affair with the Duke.