Brighton's Royal Albion Hotel passed fire safety checks before blaze

The Grade II listed building went up in flames in July 2023 sending smoke billowing over Brighton city centre and forcing part of the hotel to be demolished.

Now, newly released fire safety reports show that very few worries were raised about the hotel just a year before the major blaze.

In the reports, released under a Freedom of Information request, inspectors praised the Royal Albion staff for their “professional and pro-active attitude” towards fire safety.

The latest one is from September 2022.

Fire exits were found to be free of obstruction and emergency lighting and signage were all found to be in place.

The only issues that were raised were minor deficiencies in electrical riser cupboards, but these issues were mitigated by the fact that the hotel was staffed 24 hours a day and smoke detectors worked throughout the building.

Fire crews tackling the blaze at the Royal Albion (Image: Andrew Gardner)

A “relative risk rating” for the building found that the Royal Albion was a medium risk of a fire.

The Argus previously reported that, as of July, the owners of the Royal Albion Hotel had yet to pay a penny a year on from the fire which gutted the Grade II listed building.

The demolition has so far cost the council £1.7 million, but Britannia Hotels had not paid any money towards the demolition as of July 16.

A report into what happened during the hotel fire on July 15, 2023 found that the fire, one of the biggest on Brighton seafront, was caused by a “carelessly” discarded cigarette that was blown against the building by strong winds.

The cigarette is thought to have set an old window frame alight which later lead to flames bursting through the top floors of the 200-year-old building.

Investigators were satisfied the fire was not deliberate and that it started on the external wooden windowsill and frame of room 330 at 5.05pm.

They said the fire spread quickly through “hidden voids” in the hotel.