Malmaison Hotel, Reading facts for kids
| Malmaison Reading Hotel | |
Quick facts for kids .jpg) Malmaison Hotel in 2007 |
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| Hotel facts and statistics | |
|---|---|
| Location | Reading, Berkshire, UK |
| Coordinates | 51°27′26.64″N 0°58′18.35″W / 51.4574000°N 0.9717639°W |
| Address | |
| Opening date | 1844 |
| No. of restaurants | 1 |
| No. of rooms | 75 |
| of which suites | 6 |
The Malmaison Hotel Reading is a special building in Reading, England. It used to be called the Great Western Hotel. This hotel is considered a "grade II listed" building. This means it is an important historical place.
You can find the hotel right across from the main entrance to Reading railway station. It opened in 1844. This was soon after the Great Western Railway started its train line from London. Many people believe it is the oldest hotel built specifically for train travelers in the world.
Contents
The Hotel's Interesting Past
Why Was This Hotel Built?
When the main train line from London to Bristol was finished in 1841, Reading needed a hotel. Many people would visit the town by train. They needed a place to stay. So, a new hotel was planned near the station.
Who Designed This Famous Building?
Experts at English Heritage think Isambard Kingdom Brunel designed the hotel. He was a very famous engineer. At that time, he was the Chief Engineer for the Great Western Railway. Brunel included similar design ideas in another hotel. This was the Royal Station Hotel at Slough. Sadly, that hotel was taken down in 1938.
From Hotel to Offices and Back Again
The Malmaison Hotel building was finished in 1844. It worked as a hotel for over 100 years. But in the 1960s, there was a fire. After the fire, the building was no longer a hotel. Instead, it was used as offices for many years.
Then, in 2007, the Malmaison hotel chain bought the building. They worked hard to fix it up. They made it into a beautiful hotel again. It reopened as the Malmaison Hotel, welcoming guests once more.
