Lancing singer who performed at Royal Albion slams Britannia

Ian Lane would entertain coachloads of guests at the hotel in King’s Road, Brighton, when he first began working there ten years ago.

But, he said, numbers dwindled to just double digits over the years as the hotel deteriorated more and more due to the “poor” management of hotel group Britannia.

The 50-year-old, whose last performance at the now fire-gutted building was in 2019, said staff were fighting a losing battle to try and keep the hotel up to a good standard and were not given the support, equipment or materials needed to maintain the once stately hotel.

“I’ve seen that hotel at its worst state, particularly in recent years, but it’s always had that fine line where it’s never really been that nice a place,” he said.

“I remember in the first few months when I started there’d be five, six, seven coaches coming down each Monday, the hotel’s main hall would be full, and I’d have a good week entertaining them.

Ian Lane performing at the Royal Albion (Image: Ian Lane)

“But it started to dwindle because from day one there were issues with the hotel and how it was run.

“The staff could only run on what they were provided with and that was from Britannia.

“People would warm to me and say ‘the room we’re in is terrible; the bedroom, the mould, the radiator is falling off, the bed’s on bricks’.

“The stories were horrendous.

“It’s not the people on the ground, the manager or staff, they’re super guys, they were always stressed and struggling.

“They could only do so much with what they were given.

“The hoovers were poor and if there was a stain on the carpet they were told to cover it with a table or sofa.

“None of the furniture matched.

“They once had a furniture delivery made up of four bright red chaise longues and they looked like lips.

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“I remember at Christmas during the first few years the decorations at the hotel were fabulous, but it got to the point, towards the end of my tenure, where there were a few stringy bits of flashy baubles, a holly wreath and a plastic tree.

“It was ridiculous.

“I met people who kept coming back every year who said they didn’t want to come anymore because it was getting worse and worse.

“It had a terrible reputation in the last few years.

“Britannia has run it into the ground.”

The fire at the hotel began on Saturday evening (Image: The Argus/Andrew Gardner)

Mr Lane, who gave up performing four years ago, was also sent to other Britannia run hotels across the country to perform and said they were in the same sorry state as the Royal Albion.

“Every time I walked into a Britannia hotel, I thought 'this could be the Albion',” he said.

“There were the same problems, the same layouts, and the same dirtiness.”

Mr Lane, who lives in Lancing, said he would love to see the hotel bought by another company and the west wing of the building, which was destroyed by the fire on Saturday evening, rebuilt.

“It would be nice to see the chain sell it on, and another company invest in it and turn it into a real flagship place on the seafront,” he said.

Britannia were approached for comment.