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Former Granville Hotel site in Victoria Parade, Ramsgate, up for sale for £750,000

By: Max Chesson mchesson@thekmgroup.co.uk

Published: 12:42, 25 January 2024

Updated: 12:51, 25 January 2024

Part of a former Victorian hotel that once hosted a jazz club, bar and ballroom has gone on the market.

In its heyday, the Granville Hotel in Victoria Parade, Ramsgate, entertained high-society guests, but a section of the building has since fallen into a state of disrepair.

Outside the former Granville Hotel in Victoria Parade, Ramsgate. Picture: Miles & Barr/Rightmove

The ground floor and basement most recently operated as The Granville Bars, which closed for the final time in 1991 and has remained shut ever since.

It is this part of the site that is up for sale, with the rest of the building now occupied by flats.

The property is up for £750,000. Picture: Miles & Barr/Rightmove
There are hopes of renovating the interior to create community space. Picture: Miles & Barr/Rightmove

The property sold at auction in 2019 for £310,000, and is now on the market with Miles & Barr for £750,000.

The Granville Hotel was previously a haunt for royalty, grand dukes, and the rich and famous, boasting 26 spas and baths, a marble skating ring and theatre.

In its later years, it was known as The Granville Bars. Picture: Miles & Barr/Rightmove
The ground and basement floors are up for sale. Picture: Miles & Barr/Rightmove

It was designed by one of the town's most famous residents, EW Pugin, and built as an eight-house terrace in 1867, before being converted into a hotel two years later and operating as such until 1946.

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In January 1915, the property was taken over by the government and became The Granville Canadian Special Hospital.

The basement used to play host to a jazz club. Picture: Miles & Barr/Rightmove
Spiers and Pond owned the hotel between 1898 and 1946. Picture: Miles & Barr/Rightmove

It mainly treated patients suffering from shellshock, nerve injuries and injuries to bones and joints as a result of the First World War.

After the building was sold in 1946 by the then owners, Spiers and Pond, it was converted into flats under the name Granville House - with the ground floor dedicated to ballroom dancing and other high-end events.

The Granville was once one of the most popular ballroom dancing venues in Kent. Picture: Miles & Barr/Rightmove
The building was a hotel between 1869 and 1946. Picture: Miles & Barr/Rightmove

Particularly in the 1950s and 60s, it was known to be a desirable place to dance thanks to the installation of a spring floor.

The basement was transformed in 1956 into a jazz club called The Cave, with ownership of the venue changing hands a number of times between 1974 and when it closed.

The decor is dated, having last been open to the public in 1991. Picture: Miles & Barr/Rightmove

The leasehold for the two floors is also on the market for £5,416 per calendar month – leading to uncertainty over previously proposed renovation works.

Ramsgate community interest company Heritage Lab had hoped to lead a project to revamp the building and said it had signed a 999-year leasehold with the owner of the property.

The basement is one of two floors available to buy. Picture: Miles & Barr/Rightmove

The planned works would reopen the former ballroom, bar and restaurant of the famous seafront hotel for hosting exhibitions and performances, and for community events and conferences whilst the lower ground floor would see studios and co-working spaces for local professional artists.

The community group said it needed to raise £25,000 in December 2022 in order to be in a position to make the renovations happen, and launched a successful fundraising appeal.

CEO Rob Kenyon told KentOnline its plans remain in place, despite the prospective sale.

The hotel was converted into a wartime hospital in 1915 for two years. Picture: Miles & Barr/Rightmove

He said: “It’s hard to believe this ourselves, but we actually started this project nearly six years ago.

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“We are continuing to work hard with all our funders to resolve some complex issues which have been beyond our direct control for some time.

“We continue to be immensely grateful to the community for all their support for our project and have retained all the money from the Crowdfunder, which is unspent.”

The ground floor has been empty for more than 30 years. Picture: Miles & Barr/Rightmove
Inside the former Granville Hotel in Victoria Parade, Ramsgate. Picture: Miles & Barr/Rightmove

The fundraising push came off the back of a £77,300 sum awarded to Heritage Lab in 2022 by the Architectural Heritage Fund.

In the same year, the community interest company was handed £300,000 from the government’s Levelling Up fund.

The former hotel building forms part of Historic England’s Conservative Areas at Risk and Ramsgate’s Heritage Action Zone.

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