Seymour Hotels Centenary Magazine SPREADS - Flipbook - Page 10
THE Seymour JOURNEY
simple statement sparked
the idea that would allow
them to return and establish
what has become the family
hospitality business.
They found a house called
Glenbow in Halkett Place
and turned it into their first
guest house – Merton House.
“They called it that because
my dad came from Merton,”
explains Robin.
But it wasn’t the rosiest
of starts. “There was no
business to begin with at
all. They just prepared the
place and hung up the sign
to say, ‘we’re a guest house’.
They had nothing at that
point and had to start from
scratch.” But George and Ada
were determined their dream
would succeed.
Many days saw George,
looking for something to do,
heading out for a walk to
explore his new island home.
One day, spotting a group
of visitors walking through
town with their suitcases
George approached them
to check everything was ok
and to see if they needed
help. Knowing the ships
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THE Seymour JOURNEY
came into the harbour early
in the morning, he rightly
guessed these visitors he saw
wandering aimlessly around
St Helier were looking for
somewhere to stay.
“Come with me, I’ve got
just the place for you.” This
simple phrase marked the
turning point for George
and Ada as they successfully
directed new visitors fresh
off the boat with nowhere
to stay to their warm and
welcoming guest house.
Come with me,
I’ve got just the
place for you.
They soon expanded
Merton House, leasing a
house on either side, but
rapidly outgrew Glenbow
and its neighbouring
properties. In 1923, George
moved up to Belvedere,
transferred the business
from Halkett Place, and
decided to call it the Merton
Hotel. This remains the
site of the popular, familyfriendly Merton Hotel.
In 1923, as more people
came to the Island, hotels
and guesthouses were
sending coaches down to the
boats to meet the visitors.
Spotting an opportunity in
the market, George and Ada
launched Merton Mascots
coach company. Robin notes,
“I suppose it was a kind of
advertising scheme to get
the name Merton down
there on the quayside so that
people knew where to go.”
Eventually, Merton Mascots
became Mascot Motors and
the addition of the coaches
made a significant difference
to business being driven,
literally, to Seymour hotels.
“Between the move to the
Merton property and the
introduction of Merton
Mascots, they quickly
doubled and filled their
capacity,” adds Rita.
Robin and Rita attribute
the initial boom for Seymour
Hotels to the railways
and the Railway Worker’s
Privilege Ticket Association.
Rita explains, “Railway
workers would benefit
from hugely discounted
holidays, if not free on some
routes. Also, because British
Railways owned the ferries
servicing the Island, Jersey
was classed as the ‘end of
the line’ and, with sea travel
included in the discounted
travel, quickly became a
favourite destination for
railway workers and their
families.”
This, coupled with
George’s natural flair
for sales and marketing,
guaranteed early success for
the family. “He would throw
these great reunion parties
in London for past guests
which inevitably led to rebooking,” adds Rita. Inviting
past Seymour Hotels guests
to join a night of celebration
in London, these reunion
parties started in the 1930s.
The first took place at the
Portman Rooms, and there
was so much interest adverts
had to be placed in the
newspapers asking guests
not to attend! To cater for
the increasing demand for
tickets, the next reunion
was held at Crystal Palace
with 4,000 guests joining
the celebration. In 1932, for
the third reunion, George
headed to Olympia. That
Saturday night saw 5,000
guests joining together to
share memories, reminisce
and catch up with newly
made friends. “These parties
were very much a result
of the boom and were a
celebration for all involved.
They were quite remarkable
and a moment in time that
just couldn’t happen today,”
says Robin.
In 1930, Seymour
Hotels purchased the
Pomme d’Or Hotel and
immediately started the task
of renovating. Robin was
one of the very first guests,
born in the hotel in 1931.
“My mother and father
were living in the Pomme
d’Or when I was born but
shortly after we moved
into a house at Millbrook,”
Robin explains. The house at
Millbrook had large gardens,
and the family would grow
flowers and vegetables for
use in the hotel. Robin
fondly remembers the
stream of items constantly
going from garden to hotel.
“And there was all of the
sewing too, making curtains
and fancy-dress costumes,”
adds Rita.
Holidays in the
‘30s differed
greatly from
those today.
Guests would
come for a week,
arriving and
leaving on the
same set days,
and the hotels
would host a
week of activities.
From sports days
to fancy dress
parties, outings to group
activities. The fun of
dressing up was a constant
with both the Merton and
Pomme d’Or hotels housing
a room packed full of fancydress costumes for guests to
dip in to. “There was always
something going on for
entertainment. The photos
from that era are quite
incredible,” says Rita.
Things came to a crashing
halt with the start of World
War II. All three hotels –
the Merton Hotel, Pomme
d’Or and Portelet – and all
the Mascot Motors coaches
were commandeered by the
German forces. “We weren’t
even allowed in the hotels to
check on them,” Robin says.
When Jersey was liberated
in 1945, after five years of
German occupation, George
and Ada faced the daunting
task of starting the business
again.
Apart from the few items
the family managed to
squirrel away at the start of
the Occupation, everything
had been distributed across
the Island to the various
locations where the Germans
lived or had a bunker. “They
literally had to hunt their
belongings down, collect
them, put them back into
the best possible working
order and return them to the
hotels,” says Robin.
“What was left of the
hotels had to be fixed and
repaired internally. The
hotels were left as empty,
damaged shells. If the
soldiers wanted another
room, they simply knocked
into the wall or fired at it,”
adds Rita.
Undaunted, George and
Ada set to work and didn’t
stop until the end of the
winter of 1945/46. “It was
a mad scramble and a lot of
hard work and worry to be
remotely ready for the start
of the next season,” says
Robin. But they did it and,
after months of hard work,
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