Grand old hotels

Understand

Grand old hotels generally offer fine accommodation and are usually not cheap, though more modern high-end places may be even more luxurious and are often more expensive.

The Leading Hotels of the World. This is an association, primarily for marketing, with over 400 member hotels in many countries. It includes many of the grand old hotels, but also many newer luxury hotels. A traveller with piles of money might consider a round the world flight, broken up with stays in many of these hotels. Travelling around the world overland, on routes such as the one taken in Around the World in Eighty Days, would give a more authentic experience of pre-flight travel. While the grand old hotels are usually privately owned, they sometimes accommodate visiting heads of state and other dignitaries.

Do

You need not stay in such hotels to enjoy some of their services. Many have fine dining, live music and nightlife, as they had in the days of yore, and gambling if local law allows. A visitor to Singapore, for example, might go to Raffles just for a Singapore Sling at the Long Bar where it was invented, and where Rudyard Kipling and Noel Coward once drank, and check out the Billiard Room where Singapore's last tiger was shot.

Sleep

Grand old hotels tend to have a 4- or 5-star rating. Due to their legacy and premium location, they can cost more than newer hotels with similar amenities.

Cope

As the buildings are old, they might be less accessible for travellers with disabilities. In most cases, the staff will be helpful for guests who need assistance.

Africa

Democratic Republic of Congo 1 Hotel Memling (Kinshasa). A colonial luxury hotel inaugurated in 1937.

Egypt

2 Cecil Hotel (Alexandria). 3 Marriott Hotel (Cairo). It was built as the "Al Gezira Palace" to house Napoleon's wife, Empress Eugenie of France. 4 Mena House Oberoi (Giza). 5 Winter Palace (Sofitel Winter Palace) (Luxor). The discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb was first announced on their bulletin board. 6 Cataract Hotel (Sofitel Legend Old Cataract Aswan) (Aswan).

Kenya 7 Norfolk Hotel (Nairobi).

Morocco 8 La Mamounia (Marrakech).

Mozambique 9 Polana Hotel (Maputo).

South Africa 10 Mount Nelson (Cape Town). Opened in 1899, as the first hotel in South Africa to offer hot and cold running water. 11 The Royal Hotel (Riebeek-Kasteel).

Tanzania 12 The Arusha Hotel (Arusha).

Tunisia 13 Hotel Majestic (Tunis).

Zimbabwe 14 The Victoria Falls Hotel (Victoria Falls).

Asia

East Asia

1 The Peninsula (Hong Kong, China). Kowloon side, by the ferry dock and right at the foot of Nathan Road, a major tourist street. Famous for serving traditional English afternoon tea in Victorian splendor. 2 Westin Josun (Seoul, South Korea). The oldest Western-style hotel in South Korea, founded as the Chosun Hotel in 1914. However, the original building was demolished, and the current one was completed on the site of the original in 1970. 3 The Shilla (Seoul, South Korea). It was built by the Park Chung-hee government in 1967 as the state guest house for visiting foreign dignitaries, and was converted to a luxury hotel in 1979. It is the most iconic hotel in Seoul. While the hotel guest rooms are in a modern 1970s high-rise building, the original state guest house, known as Yeong Bin Gwan and built in a traditional Korean architectural style, has been preserved on the hotel property and can be rented for events such as weddings and conferences. It is a popular venue for South Korean celebrities and tycoons to get married. 4 The Grand Hotel (Taipei, Taiwan). Built in the early 1950s, mainly so that Chiang Kai Shek's government would have a suitable place to accommodate visiting dignitaries. 5 Hotel Central (Macau). It was opened in 1928 as the President Hotel.It was home to Macau's first elevator and first licensed casinos. Although a favourite hangout spot for celebrities and diplomats when it opened, it began to lose its luster with the opening of newer hotels in 1960s, and had become dilapidated by the turn of the 21st century. However, it was bought over by a local businessman and painstakingly restored to its former glory in 2024, with themed floors featuring rooms designed to invoke a 1920s, 1930s or 1940s aesthetic, albeit without a casino.

China The Grand Hôtel de Pékin was built by the French and completed in 1915, with new wings added in 1917 and 1954, known as Block B and Block C respectively. The original 1915 building was demolished in 1974 to make way for the current Block D, and a new wing known as Block E was built behind Block B in 2001. The different wings are now operated as multiple separate hotels. 6 Beijing Hotel NUO

Europe

Northern Europe

Nordic countries

1 Hotel D'Angleterre (Copenhagen, Denmark). 2 Dalen Hotel (Dalen, Norway). Once a popular locale for European royalty, this is one of the largest wooden buildings in Norway and one of the best preserved hotels from the 1800s. 3 Hôtel Eggers (Gothenburg, Sweden). This location at the central station has hosted a hotel since 1861, and has had its current name and appearance since 1894. 4 Haparanda Stadshotell (Haparanda, Sweden). A hotspot during World War I, right at the border between the Russian Empire and neutral Sweden. Spies, war profiteers and even Lenin himself stayed here. 5 Hotel Knaust (Sundsvall, Sweden). Opened in 1891 following the 1888 fire that destroyed most of the city. Famous for its fan-shaped marble staircase. 6 Kviknes Hotel (Balestrand, Norway). 7 Hotel Kämp (Helsinki, Finland). 8 Grand Hotel Oslo (Oslo, Norway). 9 Hotel Saltsjöbaden (Saltsjöbaden, Sweden). Famous for the 1938 "Saltsjöbaden agreement" (Saltsjöbadsavtalet) which has been the framework for the Swedish labour market for generations to come; see history of organized labor and Stockholm labour tour. Also a recurring set for the 2010s sitcom Solsidan, a satire of Stockholm's upper-middle class. 10 Grand Hôtel (Stockholm, Sweden). The preferred accommodation for state visits and Nobel laureates. 11 Hotel Tammer (Tampere, Finland). One of Finland's oldest operating hotels, built in 1929. Part of the national heritage area of the city centre.

Baltic countries 12 Grand Hotel Viljandi (Viljandi, Estonia). 13 Grand Palace Hotel (Riga, Latvia).

Western Europe

14 Hotel Metropole (Brussels, Belgium). 15 Shelbourne Hotel (Dublin, Ireland). 16 Hôtel Ritz (Paris, France). 17 Hôtel de Crillon (Paris, France). 18 Le Grand Hôtel (Intercontinental Paris Le Grand) (Paris, France). 19 Hôtel Lutetia (Paris, France). 20 Hôtel Negresco (Nice, France). 21 Amstel Hotel (Amsterdam, Netherlands). 22 Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky (Amsterdam, Netherlands). As central as anything could be, right on Dam Square. 23 Kurhaus (Scheveningen, The Hague, Netherlands). 24 Hotel des Indes (The Hague, Netherlands). 25 Claridge's (L

North America

Canada The grand old hotels in Canada, also referred to as railway hotels, have a unique place in Canadian history. Most of them were built during the first quarter of the 20th century by the Canadian Pacific Railway or Grand Trunk Railway to provide elegant accommodation while viewing the natural beauty along the rail line. Canadian Pacific, which purchased the former Grand Trunk (Canadian National) hotels in 1988, spun off all non-rail subsidiaries (including Fairmont, its hotel group) in 2001. These hotels are popular with tourists and locals alike and though overnight stays are expensive; they represent a fine piece of Canadiana worth visiting even if you only have time for a walk through the lobby. Three – Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper- are major tourist resorts in their own right, located amid stunning Rocky Mountain scenery.

Listed approximately east-to-west, they are:

1 Lord Nelson Hotel (Halifax, Nova Scotia). 2 Hotel Nova Scotian (Halifax, Nova Scotia). Connected by walkways to both the Halifax railway station and Pier 21, the main dock for transatlantic ocean liners. 3 The Pines (Digby, Nova Scotia). Popular