Glasgow’s lost Grand Hotel that US visitor called ‘one of the finest in all of Europe’
It was the plush hotel that hosted a thousand Glaswegian[1] weddings and was once described by an American visitor as “one of the finest and best-appointed hotels in Europe” – but that couldn’t stop the relentless approach of the M8 Motorway.
For generations, the Grand Hotel[2], which was situated at Charing Cross, the famous crossroads linking the city centre with the fashionable West End, was among the most luxurious places to spend the night in the entire city.
Having played host to countless wedding receptions, company parties, ceilidhs and grand balls and dinners, the four-storey landmark was razed in the 1960s[3] as the M8 callously charged through the district, all but wiping it from the map.
The magnificent Grand, with its opulent interior, huge bay windows and Parisian-style mansard roof, oozed elegance from every stone. Designed by architect James Thomson, it was very much a product of the 1880s, when everything French was viewed as the height of sophistication.
Charing Cross and the Grand Hotel in the 1900s.
Described by the Glasgow Herald as “an important addition to the accommodation of strangers visiting the city”, right from the very start, the hotel attracted the great and good from all over Scotland and much further afield.
One American journalist wrote that the Grand Hotel, with its 105 guest rooms and suites, ballroom, whisky bar, and extravagant décor, was “one of the finest and best-appointed” European hotels they had visited.
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December 1891, saw another US visitor arrive at the hotel: Colonel William Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill. The American hunter and showman extraordinaire was touring his famous Wild West show around Europe and stayed at the Grand for successive nights.
The first floor corridor of the Grand Hotel, 1968 – Picture – A Hillhead Album
A special luncheon was held by Glasgow’s 1390 Club at the hotel in honour of Buffalo Bill. It was reported that, after the meal, the company descended into the great hall, where the Cowboy Band played selected airs. Native Americans performed tribal dances and sang the hymn Nearer My God to Thee in Lakota.
Grand Hotel demolition at Charing Cross, 1969. Colour slide taken by Eric Watt.
Into the 20th century, the Grand became a favourite for many Glaswegians to hold their wedding receptions. Had the hotel survived long enough for Daniel Boone to pen 1972 hit Beautiful Sunday, it would have surely become ‘slosh’ central, but, alas, this was not to be.
The Grand Hotel was demolished in 1969.
In 1968, construction of the inner city section of the M8 Motorway, as outlined in the the Bruce Report, began apace. Heartbreakingly, the motorway scheme meant the mass demolition of properties throughout Anderston, Charing Cross and beyond.
Much of Charing Cross was lost in the 1960s to the M8.
The following year, in March 1969, the Grand Hotel was razed to the ground and another irreplaceable chunk of Glasgow’s history and character gone forever.
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References
- ^ Glaswegian (www.glasgowlive.co.uk)
- ^ the Grand Hotel (www.glasgowlive.co.uk)
- ^ 1960s (www.glasgowlive.co.uk)
- ^