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Grand Hotel, Nuwara Eliya - Sri Lanka
The Grand Hotel is a four-star boutique hotel in Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka, that was built in the style of an Elizabethan-era manor house. The hotel has 154 rooms, including three presidential suites, four junior suites, including a governor's suite that have been maintained to preserve the traditional design. The Grand Hotel has a number of restaurants, bars and a billiards room.
The original building, a single store bungalow, called 'Barnes Hall', was constructed as the holiday residence of Sir Edward Barnes, the fifth Governor of Ceylon (1776-1838) in 1828, for the sum of £8,000.[5] Following Barnes' departure from Ceylon in 1831 it was rented to his successor as Governor, Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton. It was subsequently purchased by Reginald Beauchamp Downall (1843-1888), a planter and member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon, who operated it a small guest house/hotel. On 12 April 1892 it was sold to the Nuwara Eliya Hotels Company Limited. William Milsom, owner of “property...... known as Barnes Hall on which is built the Grand Hotel” sold it to the Company for Rs. 35,000/-. The total area, which was in three separate lots amounted at the time of sale to approximately 27 acres. In the 1890s a second storey was added to the building. The northern wing (now known as the Governors Wing), originally only a single storey, linked by an archway with the main building, was added. A further extension was opened in 1904, with a second floor added to the northern wing linked by corridor with the additional floor of the main building. An additional southern wing (now known as the Golf Wing) was then added to the building. In the 1930s the third storey was constructed with its mock Tudor facade. The main restaurant, Barnes Hall, was named for the former governor. Notable guests who have stayed at the Grand include the Duc d’Abruzzi (brother of the Italian Sovereign), Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (nephew of King Edward), the Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar, Prince Reuss XXXII, the Maharaja of Kapurthala, Jagatjit Singh and Sir Thomas Lipton. Lord Mountbatten is also reported to have stayed at the Grand.
5 сен 2024
