'Missing smoke detector and faulty wires at Royal Albion hotel'

Guests staying at the hotel on the day it burned down said they went to tell staff about a bedside lamp which had exposed wires but were stopped from doing so when the fire alarm sounded on Saturday evening.

Steve and Doris Fryer, from Norwich, were visiting their daughter and granddaughter for birthday celebrations in Brighton on July 15.

That evening, Steve says he went to use a bedside lamp but found the plug to be in a bad condition.

Steve and Doris Fryer, from Norwich, were staying in the hotel the night it went up in flames (Image: Submitted)

The couple went to reception the following day to complain, but waited in the bar instead as staff were busy checking other guests into the hotel.

But while waiting in the bar, the fire alarm sounded before they had the chance.

The family fled the hotel and watched on from the Harvester pub nearby as their room went up in flames, scorching their wedding rings and passports.

“I didn’t like the look of the hotel when I walked in and I’d never stay there again,” said Steve, 65.

A plug from in Steve and Doris fryer's room at the Royal Albion (Image: Submitted)

“The room smelled of damp and the wooden windows were rotten.

“When the fire alarm sounded we saw a little bit of smoke as we left, but it just kept getting worse and worse.”

The couple were later told to wait in a nearby hotel but had to cut their holiday short as Doris’s heart medication was still inside her room in the Royal Albion.

Meanwhile, a guest who previously stayed at the hotel said they found wires exposed from a wall in her room which is thought to be where a fire alarm once was.

Exposed wires in one of the rooms at the Royal Albion (Image: Submitted)

The guest, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “There were a lot of us staying for a work party.

“When we arrived, someone from the front desk was on the phone to the police about an incident that was happening in the hotel.

“I went to my room on the second floor and found the fire alarm wires sticking out from the wall.”

The guest said they have passed this information to East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service following last weekend's blaze.

Another guest, who previously stayed at the Royal Albion said a battery was removed from the fire alarm in their room.

Anne Berthoud, 80, who was visiting from London (Image: Submitted)

“There was a buzzing noise which I could not locate and the light in my room wouldn’t switch off,” said Anne Berthoud, 80, who was visiting from London.

“Someone took out the lightbulb in my room so that I could sleep.

“The next night the buzzing noise was continuing so I threatened to call the fire brigade.

READ MORE: Demolition of Brighton's Royal Albion hotel begins after fire

“An employee sent an electrician who climbed on the bed to remove the battery of what turned out to be a smoke alarm.

“The room itself was appalling, I have never seen such an ugly room. I said they should throw out all the furniture and replace with things from Ikea.

“It was the worst hotel I have ever stayed in.”

Demolition of parts of the Royal Albion hotel continues today.