Over the last two years an army of building contractors have painted the hotel - described by the playwright Dennis Potter as “a huge creamy palace” - to restore it to its former glory and increased the car park capacity by 64%. The final stage of work involved a new upper pool terrace area with complimentary stone balustrades.

Since the team of craftsmen first began work at the five-star hotel they have:

• Painted 1,000 windows
• Used 1,500 litres of specialist Italian paint on 6,000 square feet of masonry
• Put down 548 tonnes of road sub-base prior to resurfacing
• Created the new car park with 720 square metres of tarmacadam surfacing
• Laid 900 paving slabs

The works were phased over two years to minimise the impact to the smooth running and operation of the hotel. Part of the front elevation formed one of the final phases of the project and was completed just before the hotel’s busy summer season. The Grand is a premier hotel on the South Coast.

The car park at the front is entirely new in all respects and acknowledged by the hotel as being one of the more significant improvements made in recent years.

There is now space for 80 cars in front of the hotel plus improved lighting. The scheme also included an extensive replanting and landscaping programme.

Grand Hotel General Manager Jonathan Webley said: “We have always been mindful of the need for extra parking spaces for a hotel of this size and calibre and we are very pleased that the work has been completed. It has given the car park a completely new look and a substantial increase in our parking capacity, along with a sweeping entrance and a water feature, and we have had very positive feedback from guests.