The Francis Hotel is a four star

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

located in a

Grade 1 listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

on the south side of Queen Square,

Bath, Somerset Bath (Received Pronunciation, RP: , ) is a city in Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman Baths (Bath), Roman-built baths. At the 2021 census, the population was 94,092. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, Bristol, River A ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It was part of Accor's

MGallery Mercure is a French midscale hotel chain owned by Accor. Created in 1973 in France, the brand was acquired by Accor in 1975, and subsequently became a major part of the company's midscale hotel portfolio, alongside Novotel. As of 2021, Mercure o ...

luxury

boutique hotel Boutique hotels are small-capacity Hotel, hotels that provide more personalized service than typical hotels. They typically have fewer than a hundred rooms, and are considered more "trendy" and "intimate", often due to their location in urban ar ...

collection. On 1 April 2022, the Francis Hotel left the Accor chain.

Background

The Francis Hotel occupies seven of the nine town houses built between 1728 and 1736, on the south side of Queen Square. In the Georgian period, John Wood set out to restore Bath to what he believed was its former ancient glory as one of the most important and significant cities in

. In 1725 he developed an ambitious plan for his home town, which due to opposition he developed outside the existing city walls. Wood created a distinctive image for the city, one that has greatly contributed to Bath’s continuing popularity. Queen Square is a key component of his vision, and was intended to appear like a palace with wings and a forecourt to be viewed from the south side. Named in honour of Queen Caroline, wife of George II, located away from the crowded streets of medieval Bath, but only a short walk to the Abbey, Pump Room, Assembly Rooms and baths, although outside the city walls Queen Square quickly became a popular residence for Bath's Georgian society. Wood himself chose to live at No.9, on the south side with the best view of the structure imaginable, until he died. No.9 is now the entrance to the Francis Hotel.

Hotel

The nine townhouses that make up the south side of Queen Square remained as individual dwellings until the late the nineteenth century. In 1858, local builder Soloman Francis established a boarding house at No. 10 Queen Square. During the 1870s, his widow, Emily, started to buy up the adjacent properties and, by 1884 had expanded the business into Nos 6-9 and 11. In May 1884, the seven Georgian town houses were opened as the Francis Private Hotel. In April 1942 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, of the hotel frontage was lost when a

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

high explosive bomb landed on the east side of the square during the

Bath Blitz The term Bath Blitz refers to the air raids by the German ''Luftwaffe'' on the British city of Bath, Somerset, during World War II. The city was bombed in April 1942 as part of the so-called " Baedeker raids", in which targets were chosen fo ...

. Casualties were low considering the devastation, with the majority of the guests and staff having taken shelter in the hotel basement. J. Hopwood rebuilt the hotel in 1952-53, while

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

stayed in the hotel in 1963.

Present

Between 2010 and 2012 the Francis Hotel was refurbished by Accor Hotels. The corridors were split into different areas by cross-corridor doors, with these subdivisions roughly marking the boundaries of the different houses. The new interior decoration marks these diversions through the use of different wallpaper in heritage colours and patterns.

Blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...

s explain who was in residence at specific dates. The Francis Hotel presently has 98 bedrooms of three different types: Classic, Superior and Feature. The Francis is part of the Sutton Hotel Collection, launched in April 2022, with three hotels including The Queens Hotel, Cheltenham and The Castle Hotel, Windsor.

References

External links

Francis Hotel
{{coord, 51.3830, -2.3632, format=dms, type:landmark, display=title Hotels in Somerset Grade I listed buildings in Bath, Somerset Accor hotels Hotel buildings completed in 1858 Grade I listed hotels 18th century in Bath, Somerset