The Queens Hotel Cheltenham

The Queens Hotel occupies a commanding position on the Promenade in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, overlooking Imperial Gardens. Built on the site of the earlier Sherborne Spa and opened in 1838, the year of Queen Victoria's coronation, it is often described as one of the first purpose-built hotels in Europe. Its grand Regency-style frontage reflects Cheltenham's heyday as a fashionable spa town, and the Grade II* listed building has welcomed guests, including nobility and notable visitors, for well over 180 years.

As a long-established hotel, the Queens features in local ghost tradition. Staff and guests have over the years reported cold spots, footsteps and fleeting figures in corridors and older rooms, the kind of stories common to grand historic hotels. Such accounts are anecdotal and unverified, and are best regarded as part of the building's atmosphere.

The hotel's documented history as a landmark of Regency Cheltenham is its real distinction. Its architecture and place in the town's spa story are well recorded, offering a richer draw than any reported haunting.

The Queens Hotel Cheltenham is a privately operated boutique hotel, open year-round to guests staying overnight and to visitors using its restaurant, bar and event spaces. It is a commercial hotel rather than a heritage attraction, so there is no general admission; access to guest areas is for patrons.

Visitors and guests are asked to respect other patrons and staff, and anyone hoping to view the historic interiors should do so as a paying customer rather than expecting open public access.