£8m facelift for ugliest building
Hotel aims to shed label of city’s most unattractive building
It has long been one of Bath’s biggest eyesores, according to the city’s residents.
Nearly two years ago the Hilton hotel in Walcot Street topped a poll to find the city’s most unattractive building.
Now its owners are pouring £8 million into a major refurbishment.
And its manager hopes this will allow the hotel to “pass the baton of the ugliest building in Bath onto somebody else”.
The revamp will see the hotel:
■ Add a new cocktail bar, restaurant, coffee shop and “secret garden” with outdoor seating;
■ Refurbish every bedroom;
■ Overtake the 177-room Apex to become Bath’s biggest hotel.
General manager Chris Cottam said: “The £8 million we are about to spend on the Hilton Bath is extremely exciting, adding more bedrooms to become the largest hotel in the city.
“All of our bedrooms will be fully refurbished with the ground floor will be completely renovated.
“Reception will be relocated plus our event space will have its capacity increased to 150 people with its own private bar.
“It will give our guests and local people a choice that we have never had before. We expect the refurbishment to take about seven months.
“And, of course, we will be doing our very best to improve the frontage of our building and pass the baton of the ugliest building in Bath onto somebody else!”
Bathonians’ comments about the hotel included:
“It reminds me of the tragic prefabs they stuck on schools in the 80s when they went from secondary/ grammars.” - Rebecca Jayne Smith.
“Looks like it was designed by someone for an A-level architecture project, who then received a ‘C’ grade and a lecture on context.” Steve Bradley
“The most telling thought I have when I look at that building is that somebody, some day, will tear it down and build something better” Adam Reynolds.