It is easy to lose an hour talking to Michael Stainer, such is his talent for telling stories and holding conversation.

Every question is a chance to learn something about the history or Folkestone, where his family has lived since 1861.

Something as simple as inquiring which is his favourite room in the Grand, the Edwardian hotel on the Leas he bought in 1975, is a perfect example of the mine of information held in his brain.

“It has to be Palm Court, which was one of the favoured locals for Edward VII,” he said.

“It came to be known as the Monkey House because the locals used to like peering in to see the King and his colleagues, who were heavily bearded, and to see who the latest courtiers were.

“They likened it to looking at monkeys in a cage.

The public liked to come and see who the latest ‘friends of the King’ were.”

The Grand may not have been standing today if it was not for Mr Stainer, who bought it from Pakistani owners who were planning to demolish it and turn the site into modern flats.

The hotel was built between 1899 and 1900 as gentlemen’s residential chambers but it became a hotel in 1903 when the owners had difficulty letting the rooms.

Many of his family recalled the construction of the building, which stands next to the equally stunning Metropole.

They had seen it fall into disrepair in the 1970s when Folkestone’s heyday as a seaside destination had long passed.

Mr Stainer, 67, a chartered accountant who worked at Touche Ross, now called Deloitte, saw an opportunity with the building and put in an offer.

“There was business rationale behind it,” he said. “I envisaged there was a market for its original purpose as gentlemen’s residential chambers.

“In the initial period we sold long leases of flats and I could see how the place could be renovated in line with its original design and concept to make money.”

Frank Johnson, a journalist from the Daily Telegraph and a friend of Michael’s father, who ran the Duke of Bedford’s estate, wrote an article about Mr Stainer’s intentions for the
building and it was not long before he was besieged by people looking for residence.

“We had people fighting over flats,” he recalled.

He prefers to call the Grand an apartment hotel today, with visitors able to rent apartments for as long as they want.

The hotel has 44 long-lease flats occupied and another 18 flats available, which have 46 rooms between them.

However, he acknowledges there is still much work to do. There are 100 disused rooms in the building, which Mr Stainer has battled the council for years to have renovated.

He said: “There have been various stupid notions that we should preserve the war damage for future generations to see.

“There were also stupid notions like it didn’t have showers when it was built so we shouldn’t be allowed to put showers in the rooms.

“It had survived and had been a grand place before I bought it and I'm determined to restore it..." - Michael Stainer, The Grand Hotel

“Now we have a much more realistic council and government policy is in favour of restoring listed buildings to their original purpose but allowing for them to be adapted for modern requirements.”

Since taking over the hotel, Mr Stainer has made the Grand one of Folkestone’s most
sought-after wedding venues and nearly made it the home of a private school after the closure of Westbrook House school in 2008.

He has had to pick up the pieces after two fires, the most notable of which was last year.

A blaze broke out in the electric intake room, which Mr Stainer discovered himself.

Despite the fire destroying all the electric wiring in the building, the hotel was up and running again within 12 days after a six-figure sum was spent rectifying the problem.

He insists he would never sell the building and has much left to do.

He said: “It had survived and had been a grand place before I bought it and I was determined to restore it.

“I’ve always had a vision for buildings. I was nearly an architect. I can visualise what you can do with things.”