Seacrest Hotel in Southsea waves goodbye after almost a century of hospitality

The Seacrest Hotel, on South Parade, Southsea, which opened its doors in 1936, will welcome its last guests this month after 86 years in the hospitality industry.

The hotel was bought by Antoinette and Geoffrey Stretton in 1985, and they saw it through many changes.

On the couple’s first ever date along Southsea seafront 10 years earlier, Geoffrey dreamed of what he could make of the place.

Annie said: ‘We were walking along the seafront, he had nothing and then he’d borrowed his friend’s pick-up to take me out. He looked across the road and said, “one day, I’m going to own one of those building’s” I said, “what on earth are you going to do with it?” and he said, “I’m going to turn it into a hotel!”

‘We got married the following year and ten years later, we were here,’ adds Annie.

Over 37 years the couple have welcomed a number of famous guests to the hotel from former Doctor Who star John Pertwee to television personality Fred Dibnah, to whom Geoffrey once sat talking in the bar until five in the morning.

Previous owners even played host to the likes of Cliff Richard and Lionel Blair.

Annie added: ‘Loads of celebrities stayed here, it was quite a place, the neighbours used to say to me “Show us the room Cliff Richard stayed in!”

When the couple took over in January 1985, Antoinette enlisted the help of her mother for six months who helped get the place up to scratch for their first guests.

‘If it wasn’t moving, she bleached it and if it did move, it was in the pot being boiled!

Annie, 71, added: ‘It was very run down. When we bought the hotel, there was a sign on the mantelpiece in the guest sitting room which read, ‘Please do not spit on the carpet’.

‘The bedrooms had chamber pots and gas fires which required shillings to operate.

‘There was also a bank of bathrooms with six-foot dividers in between - so you could always pop your head over the top to ask your neighbour if he had a spare bar of soap!’

More recently, the hotel was the winner of Channel 4’s Four In A Bed, in 2020.

Sadly, due to changes in the hospitality industry, the loss of Anne's ‘beloved husband’ Geoffrey in 2017 as well as staffing issues, she has made the difficult decision to close the hotel at the end of October.

‘I’ve always prided myself jumping on jobs that needed doing,’ said Annie.

‘It’s hard work, I used start at six o’clock in the morning and finish at midnight. I can’t do it any more, I’m too old and since my husband’s gone, I don’t want to work like I used to.’

When Antoinette and Geoffrey bought the hotel, it was one of 12 others on South Parade, but over the years with the introduction of national hotels such as Travelodge and Premier Inn, these hotels have closed their doors and Seacrest became the last independent business remaining.

‘We used to have a lot of reps, before Premier Inn, we had loads. But after, their companies would tell them to stay in a Premier Inn or Travelodge and we lost all that sort of business,’ added Annie.

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Annie recalls one American guest that her husband took a particular interest in.

‘He wore a great big Stetson and a cowboy belt,’ she said.

‘Geoffrey asked him “Do you ever take your hat off?” He said, “Yes sir I do, when I’m fighting, and when I’m making love.” Geoffrey said, “I’ll be sure to not be around when you take your hat off then,”’ laughed Annie.

‘The memories, there’s so many, it’s been a blast,’ she added.

After posting an advert on Facebook, Annie recently welcomed the daughter of the first owner of the Seacrest to see her at the hotel in a nostalgic visit for them both.

‘She told me she was born in room 7! It was lovely, she was frightened to come because this used to be the best hotel on the terrace and she was afraid it wouldn’t be the same,’ Annie said.

‘But she was very pleased,’ she added.

As she waves goodbye to the end of an era, Annie, who is used to working 17-hour – or more – days, hopes to finally get the chance to do things she’s never been able to.

‘I hope to do a bit of travelling, I’ve not taken many holidays, so I’ve got all that to come,’ she added.

‘We’ve employed some wonderful, hard-working people, creating one big happy family, and I would like to thank each and every one from the bottom of my heart for many happy years.

‘Although I shall miss my Seacrest family terribly, I feel that the time has come for me to move on to the next phase of my life’.