Atlantic Hotel, Newquay

The Atlantic Hotel was designed by the Cornish architect Silvanus Trevail.[4][5][6]

In 1890, Trevail formed the Cornish Hotels Company.[7][8] His aim was to build several large first class hotels in key locations, such as Falmouth, Newquay, St Ives and Kynance, to accommodate the large number of tourists and visitors traveling to Cornwall by the improved Great Western Railway passenger service.[9][7] In June 1891 the Cornish Hotels Company proposed to the Newquay Board that a new hotel was needed for the town. In October 1891, Trevail attended the Cornwall licensing committee on behalf of the company to obtain a provisional licence which was granted for the Atlantic Hotel.[10] His plans were approved and the builders, Lang and Son, undertook construction work on the hotel.[7][11] The Hotel opened to guests in July 1892, as a property occupying 10 acres of land.[12][7] The opening was a success but there were problems. An outbreak of scarlet fever threatened to scare off visitors coming to Newquay and furthermore a local water shortage caused issues with the Atlantic Hotel's state of the art sanitary facilities.[7] The Newquay board described the hotel as being in a remarkable position,[11] having been built on the summit of a bold headland jutting out into Newquay Bay, with the Atlantic Ocean surrounding three of its four sides. It had views along the coast and could be seen for miles before visitors reached the town.[7]

The Hotel has been considerably modified during the 20th century and has lost a lot of its original architectural qualities (mainly to the exterior), however much of the interior still contains original features such as the grand staircase and the marble columns.[13][14]

During filming for the Magical Mystery Tour, The Beatles arrived in Newquay on Tuesday, 12 September 1967 and stayed at the Atlantic Hotel, which caused a sensation around the town as The Beatles were the most famous band in the world at the time, following the success of their Sergeant Pepper album.[15][16]

The Beatles had only intended to stay at the hotel for just one night but eventually decided to use the hotel as a base for three nights.[17] The band stayed in four luxury holiday flats adjoining the hotel and needed a police cordon to have their meals in the hotel dining room.[17]

The scene they filmed at the hotel was of a bikini-clad woman, who was chased around the hotel's swimming pool.[15]