Seymour Hotels Centenary Magazine SPREADS - Flipbook - Page 16
Seymours through the decades
Seymours through the decades
I
n the early years of tourism, the norm was for shared
bathroom facilities on each hotel floor. The concept
of private bathrooms was an unheard-of luxury.
Although the first private bathrooms were installed at the
Portelet Hotel in 1955, this was very much a novelty and
experiment as there was no way of knowing how popular,
or practical, private facilities would be. The decision was
taken to install two doors: one into the bedroom and
one into the hallway so the bathroom could revert to
shared use if the bedroom wasn’t being occupied. Private
bathroom facilities didn’t become ‘standard’ until further
investment and expansion took place across the group,
starting in the sixties and continuing over the next
twenty years.
I
nvestment has been a constant for the Seymour hotel
group over its one hundred years of trading. Notable
expansion took place in the 70s and 80s with wings being
added and renovated to ensure the offering evolved to meet
the changing demands of the leisure visitor.
Changes in the tourism law in the mid 80s meant there
was no longer a need to seat every staying visitor for dinner
at the same time every night. The requirement still existed to
cater for 75% of staying guests, but this could be in different
locations across the hotel. As a result, the Group created new
dining options and facilities including the Harbour Room
and Café at the Pomme d’Or hotel.
Recognising the importance of their loyal, and growing
family of staff, significant investment also took place in staff
accommodation. Today Seymour hotels house 180 employees
in staff accommodation, providing a comfortable and
welcoming home for the 30 nationalities who now work for
the Group.
J
ersey and the Merton Hotel
quickly became synonymous
with romance; affectionately
named the Honeymoon Island
and Honeymoon Hotel
respectively. Coaches of
newlyweds would arrive during the offseason months, expanding the visitor season from the
traditional peak summer months and bringing welcome
seasonal trade.
Although more Jersey hotels quickly tapped into
the romance trend, the Merton Hotel remained a firm
favourite for visiting newlyweds. To cope with the boom
in demand, the hotel underwent further extensions, with
the reception foyer being enlarged to provide seating for
the coachloads of arrivals.
Although the heyday of Honeymoon Island had come to an
end, Jersey and the Seymour hotels were now well placed to
provide holidays full of happy memories for guests of all ages
and incomes. Many of the first guests started returning with
their children and grandchildren; a trend that would continue
with some of Seymour’s most loyal guests having visited more
than 100 times.
Although the world of international travel had opened up,
the introduction of a car ferry service to the Island meant
Jersey remained firmly on the UK visitor’s ‘to visit’ list for an
easy and sunny family escape. Travel companies offering a
new concept of package holidays came on the scene and once
again the Seymour family recognised a business opportunity.
The business was incorporated as Seymour Hotels and
Holidays, offering tailored solutions for visitors who wanted
to visit under their own steam and to enjoy their own tailored
itineraries.
How people navigated the Island also evolved in
the sixties. George recognised that more visitors
wanted to explore the Island at their own pace
rather than always join a set tour and itinerary.
This led to the diversification of Mascot Motors to
include hire cars in the early 1960s.
The continued boom in visitor traffic also put
increasing pressure on the hotel infrastructure.
Upwards of one million items a year needed
laundering, which led to the establishment of a
dedicated Seymour Hotels’ Laundry.
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