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The Grand Hotel du Calvados was a French-run establishment, although the site on which it was built was in Jersey ownership. It was sold by Charles de Gruchy to the States in 1897. By then at least the Royal Square end of the building was derelict, after a disastrous fire on 30 November 1885, and this section of the building was demolished soon afterwards.
In 1930 the States took the decision to construct an extension to their offices at this end of the Royal Square, demolishing all the buildings which had been acquired over the previous 50 years.
Other locations
After the fire the hotel moved to premises which stretched across the substantial block from Hill Street to Queen Street. In his 1977 Buildings of the Town and Parish of St Helier, C E B Brett records that 27 Hill Street, was 'said to have been built as the Calvados Hotel, though it looks more like a mid-Victorian banking house'.
This is clearly the same building that is shown in the advertisement in the box on the right, though the date of this is unknown. It seemed strange that in the wake of the fire the hotel would have moved from the large premises in Church Street to a much smaller building in Hill Street, but the discovery of a further postcard indicates clearly that the hotel stretched from Hill Street right through to Queen Street - a relatively narrow but long site. It seems certain that this was the location of the hotel after the fire forced it to move from the Royal Square.
There are also suggestions that the Hotel du Calvados also occupied other premises, perhaps in the wake of the fire, or possibly as annexes when the hotel was in its heyday. Various locations in Hill Street, Mulcaster Street and Halkett Place have been suggested.
This picture was said to have been taken in 1852, but we now believe that it dates from some 20 years later
An 1885 newspaper report of the fire
By 1900 the hotel stretching from Hill Street to Queen Street had become the Continental
A postcard confirming that the hotel stretched from Hill Street to Queen Street. Room prices were in French francs, from 7.50 a day, and the price remained unchanged in 1900 when the hotel was renamed the Continental - see bill above
A picture taken in the last decade of the 19th century of the Queen Street frontage of the hotel, before it was renamed the Continental
Guests at the hotel
The corner site has been cleared by the time this picture was taken and is awaiting development as States offices
The hotel was the venue for orchestral concerts in the early 20th century
