The history of the Best Western Royal Hotel in Caen

One of the oldest hotel houses in Caen

 

Historic building salvaged from the rubble

Grand Hôtel de la Place Royale, then Hôtel Royal and today Best Western Royal Hotel, the establishment still retains one of the original facades, saved in the rubble after the bombing of Caen in 1944!

Present in the first editions of tourist guides that are now a hundred years old and not to be missed, the former "Grand Hotel" still tells you its history through collections of period engravings and postcards, maps of the city of Caen in the past...
 

From the 50s to the present day

With the current building - dating from 1951 and the reconstruction of Caen - the hotel has gained in comfort what its façade has lost in architectural sophistication....
Many changes have taken place since the 1960s, in line with fashions and customer expectations...

When the house was put on hold in 2003 during a year of extensive work, the doors were reopened and the communal and private living areas were completely reorganised and rational, secure and comfortable, in keeping with a certain idea of sustainable development.
 

To find out more about the project

For those who would like to know more, here is what a beautiful book* says about "the rue de Strasbourg and the hotel on Place Royale":
Known as the "Venelle aux chevaux" in the 17th century, it was renamed rue de la Municipalité during the Revolution. In September 1871, after the proclamation of the republic, the Rue de l'Impératrice was renamed Rue de Strasbourg in memory of the capital of Alsace, now occupied by the Germans. Starting from Rue Saint Pierre, it leads to the Place de la République. In memory of the old name [of the square], one hotel has kept the name of Place Royale. After the first hotel, which was used as accommodation for troops passing through Caen, a second hotel was rebuilt in 1835 to accommodate stagecoaches and had 'Messageries Royales' inscribed on its façade. At the beginning of the 20th century, this hotel boasts comfortable rooms equipped with electricity, central heating and a lift, but above all its exceptional location on the gardens of the town hall. Destroyed during the bombings, it was rebuilt in the same place and still opens onto the gardens of the Place de la République.*

*Extract from "Caen yesterday and today" by Yves Lecouturier and Bernard Enjolras, published by Editions Ouest-France, 2008.