This is wonderful news however I hope that the hotel can be returned to its former architectural glories!!.
I am old enough to remember going in there for a drink as a teenager in the 1970s and also going for family meals in the 1970s when they had 2 Bernie inn steakhouses .
One was downstairs and cheaper & one was upstairs accessed by a wonderful escalator and it was slightly posher & and more expensive to dine .
They were always very popular and busy & steakhouses were in their heyday in the 1970s .
The food was amazing with their “open grill“ kitchens on view,,, you could see your steaks sizzling in front of you as you enjoyed your starters of the popular , prawn cocktail ,, and yes it really was , Black Forest gateaux for dessert ,, and the grown ups sometimes enjoyed a glass of Blue Nun … classic revolutionary dining of its time .
For all those happy memories, one of the saddest things I remember is the decimation of especially the ground floor of the imperial, in subsequent decades , by short sighted developers who simply carved up the interior to make it something it was never meant to be ,totally destroying so many original features , in the name of so called modernisation .
They should be ashamed of themselves , as should the planning department who must have passed building regulations ,, a bloody disgrace !
Just to name one of those features which was unceremoniously removed (and replaced by cheap and nasty ,, “but oh isn’t it modern” looking now !!!) , was the eye catching and iconic “ revolving door” which led in to the beautiful hotel reception and bars .
Such a crying shame.
Thank goodness the building has now been granted Grade two listed status .
Far more control on preservation ,,, albeit “too late” for the Gem of a building as it was originally built , and it’s ripping apart in many recent years in the name of progress !!
I wish the restoration luck , and look forward to seeing the results ,, I’m sure !!! & hope , that this time it will be successful and Stroud will have “the Stroud” that they can be truly proud of once again .
Nick Smolinski
Stonehouse
