Roots and Wings
The world in 1860 was experiencing profound change and progress, marvelling at exciting new discoveries, and still pondering vast unknown territories. In 1860 Abraham Lincoln is campaigning for election as President of the United States of America, the British stationed in India are inventing Badminton, in Scotland the first British Golf Open is taking place, Eduard Douwes Dekker is already writing his novel Max Havelaar, denouncing the exploitation of the indigenous people in Indonesia by the colonial governors, the expedition of the British Burke and Willis leaves Melbourne in August heading for the northern tip on a year-long adventure which will allow them to complete the first south-north crossing of Australia. Inextricably linked to these adventures the emergence of the middle class is one of the most lasting phenomena of the era. These people were extremely lucky to be able to work, travel, enjoy leisure time, and earn money.It is in this world and for these men, and sometimes women, who took the train and were learning new words such as "dinosaur" and "tourism" that in July 1860 in Chester, opposite its remarkable train station which is now classed as a historic monument, the Best Western Premier Queen Hotel was unveiled.
This world also had its traditions that the hotel honours and to which it has contributed to right up to the present day. It is an Art de Vivre which has a much more refined and surer sense of home and comfort when its subjects travel further and further, in an empire on which the sun never sets. It is precisely for this reason that the Best Western Premier Queen Hotel has always been the choice of great travellers such as Charles Dickens, who did reading tours across the country, or Cecil Rhodes who would have developed in the hotel gardens the plans which would lead to the birth of Rhodesia. Each savouring their tea, today as they did in those early days, in the leather sofas of the Albert Lounge with its fireplace and Victorian paintings. Each losing themselves in the luxurious warmth of the bar, with whiskies almost as old as the wood panelling, and brasses as bright as the lights are soft. Adjoining the bar, the Bacchus restaurant, which opens onto a superb shaded terrace in fine weather, completely deserves its rosette with an enticing menu and top class service.
Another great traveller, the actress Lillie Langtry, whose adventures and great beauty were the talk of the town on both sides of the Atlantic towards the end of the 19th century, occupies a special place amongst the distinguished guests who have stayed at the hotel. The suite that takes her name today is emblematic of the authenticity and comfort offered by the Best Western Premier Queen Hotel to each of its visitors. It is unlike any other room in the hotel, each having their own style and character. Yet it enjoys the same generosity of facilities and design: four-poster bed, original paintings on the walls, antique furniture, impeccable bed and bath linens, digitally controlled lighting...
The actress liked to say "Anyone who limits her vision to memories of yesterday is already dead". The Best Western Premier Queen Hotel could make this quote its own as it has always known how to grow, without turning its back on its prestigious history, but rather by moving with the times and embracing progress: it takes talent to accept both roots and wings. It is to this approach that the hotel owes its ultra-modern gym, the latest multimedia equipment (particularly in the huge conference room), the perfect soundproofing and air-conditioning, and its unique character, enhanced by the many original 19th century canvases it displays. One of the most celebrated painters of the time, Frederic Leighton, perfectly expressed the Victorian nostalgia for the "golden age" of ancient Greece and Rome. "The Idyll", one of his best known paintings, would earn a place of honour at the heart of the hotel because it features Lillie Langtry as a Nymph and, even more so, because it expresses the sophistication of this unique Art de Vivre, whose flame the hotel faithfully keeps alive.
| Best Western Premier Queen Hotel |
| City Road, Chester, England - CH1 3AH |
| Phone: +44 1244 305 000 Fax: +44 1244 305 000 |
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