The fire at the Royal Albion was Brighton's biggest blaze in recent memory – but Britannia Hotels is no stranger to seeing its portfolio go up in flames.
In fact, there have been four major fires at hotels owned by the chain since 2016.
The Britannia in Aberdeen burnt down in June 2016, while The Britannia in Manchester and The Trecarn in Torquay were both engulfed in flames in 2022, with the Royal Albion becoming the fourth in the portfolio to go up in smoke.
In 2022, The Britannia in Canary Wharf, London, was issued with an enforcement notice after it was reported to have “serious fire safety flaws” by Which? Magazine.
The outlet revisited two months later and said the problems had become worse, with furniture blocking fire exits at the time.
Which? then booked into Britannia Heathlands, in Bournemouth, saying of its visit: “We found broken fire doors, missing fire extinguishers and extinguishers that hadn’t been checked by their due date.”
And it is not just authorities who are concerned, with a former manager of the Grand Hotel in Scarborough telling Teesside Live in 2021 that fire extinguishers were being tampered with, furniture was stored in front of fire doors and fire exit escape steps were rotting.
“God knows what would happen if loads of people had to leave and put their weight on them,” he said of the steps.
Many of Britannia’s hotels were once beautiful buildings with the company saying it takes pride in “restoring” them.
Multimillionaire owner Alex Langsam previously told The Guardian: “We do it because we enjoy the challenge. Above all it is fun, I don't do it for money.”
But Mr Langsam’s hotel chain has been ranked the UK’s worst by Which? for nine years straight, while Trip Advisor is flooded with negative reviews from his former guests.
The Royal Albion has just two and a half stars out of five on Trip Advisor, with reports of “dirty and grubby” rooms, filthy mattresses, mould and damp on the walls, and crumbling brickwork.
Mr Langsam himself, however, lives in a £3.4 million ten-bedroom mansion in Cheshire and has amassed an estimated £248 million in wealth since he founded Britannia in 1976.
Despite this, he is registered as a resident of Austria, where his father lives. In 2012, during a court case, a judge noted Mr Langsam was "anxious to rely on his father's domicile of origin (...) and thus himself qualify for the status of a ‘non-domicile’ as his father’s dependent with all the tax advantages that go with that status."
The businessman also owns discount family holiday park Pontins, which the i news website found in 2021 to have a blacklist of common Irish surnames.
Staff were sent a list of 40 Irish surnames and told: “We do not want these guests on our parks. Please watch out for the following names for any future bookings.
“Several guests are unwelcome at Pontins, however some of these will still try and book – especially in the school holidays.”
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The Government’s Equality and Human Rights Commission later ordered Pontins to scrap the list.
Brighton is now left to deal with the cremated ruins of a once-prestigious Royal Albion. It was revealed yesterday that Britannia Hotels will be sent the £500k bill for the demolition works.
What will happen to the hotel now? No one knows. The Argus has contacted Britannia Hotels for comment and is awaiting responses.
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