BEST BEACH HOTELS

The eastern side of Pier Approach as seen from the pier.

Where once stood the original single storey baths structure [ 1838 - 1864 ], now stands the much maligned Waterfront [ Imax ] building that opened in 1999, albeit without it's flagship tenant, the opening of the Imax Cinema being delayed until 2002.
The site was also occupied by the Sydenham's / replacement baths building [ 1865 - 1934 ], and the Pier Approach Baths [ 1937 - 1984 ], which were demolished in 1986.

On the far left you can just see St Peter's Church. Work began on it's construction in 1841 and continued in stages over the following 40 years. The spire was added in 1879.

Also on the left is the Pavilion that opened in 1929. The Belle Vue Boarding House / Hotel stood facing Pier Approach at this point from 1839 until 1928.

Working our way along the top, the light coloured building in the centre is the Premier Inn on Westover Rd. It has had quite a few name changes since it was built in the early 1930s, but is probably best remembered as the Palace Court Hotel, and for it's connections to The Beatles. The group stayed there in 1963 when Beatlemania was at its peak. They appeared at the Gaumont Theatre next door, and the photo for the cover of their next LP, With The Beatles, was taken in the hotel.

The brown and grey building directly to the right of the hotel is the Y.M.C.A, behind which, can be seen the left hand block of Bath Hill Court, with the right hand block the clearly visible white building to the right. The Bath Hill Court flats were built on the site of St Peters Church vicarage and grounds in the 1930s, the vicarage [ parsonage ] was built in 1847.

Next on the right, the Royal Bath Hotel is poking it's head above the greenery. Opened in 1838 as the Bath Hotel, it was part of the initial phase of the Sir George Gervis "Marine Village of Bourne", along with the Belle Vue mentioned earlier, and the Westover Villas.

The tower block on the right is Forest House on the corner of Bath Rd and Russell Cotes Rd. It replaced the original detached Forest House that was built in the 1850s.

And finally, coming down to the lower buildings, the colonnade shelters were built in 1907 as part of the Undercliff Drive scheme. Today the Undercliff Drive connects Bournemouth Pier Approach to Boscombe Pier Approach although motor vehicles can only enter from the Boscombe end and it is gated off close to the Bournemouth Pier end. It is used as a car park, although pedestrians and cyclists can use it as a through route.
The first section was opened with great ceremony by the great and the good of the town in 1907. It had been a hard won victory by those that supported the scheme and i think we can, over a century later, pronounce it an undoubted success. Well done.
When it opened it only ran up in line with Meyrick Rd, which is about a quarter of the way to Boscombe and the cliff lift opened at this point in 1908. The rest through to Boscombe was completed in 1914.

The East Beach Cafe became a Harry Ramsden's in the 1990s.

A villa called The Glen, a boarding house, was demolished in 1881 to make way for the construction of the Mont Dore Hotel that opened in 1885.
The foundation stone was laid by His Majesty King Oscar the 2nd of Sweden and Norway.

The establishment was one of a number of 'hydropathic hotels' that sprang up in town.

This from an 1885 guide.........
" It consists of two departments under one roof.
1st - The extensive establishment supplied with Mont Dore water imported from France, and superintended by Dr Emond, from Mont Dore Auvergne - comrising hot and temperate baths, vapour douches and baths, inhilation halls of spray and vapour, nasal and throat irrigations etc.
Also hot and cold plunge, douche, needle, pine, electric and other baths, and a luxuriousTurkish bath, all supplied with sea water.
2nd - A high class pension of 120 bed and sitting rooms, general dining, drawing, reading, billiard and smoking rooms. Music and ball room 70ft by 25ft and 20ft high...."



This from an 1888 town guide........
"The hotel, which is by far the finest building in Bournemouth, is in the Italian style of architecture, and contains every modern improvement and convenience which can contributeto the handsomeness of the house and to the health and comfort of its visitors.
It is five storeys high, and comprises excellent bedrooms and private sitting rooms, lofty and well ventilated, together with public rooms of all kinds, including a grand dining hall, and ladies' drawing room, a most charming apartment furnished with great elegance, and having large bay windowsaffording views of the Gardens and Public Pleasure Grounds.
A reading room contains a plentiful supply of the best periodical literature, and there is an exceedingly fine billiard room, containing two magnificent table.
It is fitted with passenger lifts, radiators, and all modern appliances, and every attention has been paid to the sanitary arrangements, lighting, warming and ventilation.
Since the opening of the hotel, a model laundry and a number of large bedrooms have been aded, and the directors have under contemplation further additions, alterations and improvements, including a Winter Garden.
The gardens, well treed with pines, are picturesquely laid out, and afford sheltered nooks in various directions.
The hotel communicates by a glass corridor with the bathing establishment, which is one of the most complete in England, if not in Europe, having been constructed after the model of the famous Auvergne Baths..."

It stands on the corner of Bourne Avenue and Braidley Rd with further access via St Stephen's Rd.
It was used as a military hospital during WW1 before becoming Bournemouth's present town hall in 1921.