Once a bustling hub of hospitality, entertainment and social life, the Grade II-listed venue has been largely dormant for many years, falling onto the Heritage at Risk register.
But a major £10 million investment is returning this once-loved and popular historic building back to the Bromley area, offering a café and restaurant along with a private members’ club.
Although its current building dates back to 1898, the original Royal Bell dates back to 1666, when it was first established as The Bell Inn posting house.
This coaching inn served travellers passing through Bromley, which back in its day would have been a major part of the London to Kent route for merchants and traders alike.
Its royal connections soon followed: the building earned the “Royal” prefix after royal coaches routinely stopped to change horses, with stable hands donning scarlet uniforms for these high-profile visits.
Over the centuries, it became more than just a stopover for traders, it was a social and cultural hub, a place where locals gathered, milestones were celebrated, and visitors from far afield were welcomed.
Some of its most famous guests to stay there were Queen Victoria, Jane Austen and even David Bowie.
Back in 1898, the Royal Bell underwent a major transformation when it was rebuilt by Ernest Newton, a leading architect of the Arts and Crafts movement, giving the building its distinctive red brick façade and slate roof.
The architectural upgrades reflected both the prosperity of Bromley at the time and the ambition to create a venue of lasting elegance and sophistication.
The building’s layout, spanning four to five storeys with grand public spaces and private rooms, allowed it to function as both a hotel and a centre for social life for well over a century.
But in more recent years the Royal Bell fell into decline, gradually falling out of use with its grand halls, ornate staircases and period features showing the effects of years of neglect.
The building was subsequently put on Historic England’s “Heritage at Risk” register and, although its vulnerability was classed as low and the building remained in reasonable condition, its unuse meant uncertainty for one of the town centre’s most historic buildings.
But an initiative led by The BELLE Collective and other passionate local businesspeople is seeing this former hotel enter a new era.
Original architectural features, including the Carrara marble staircase and intricate period cornices have been preserved, while the building has been adapted to accommodate a range of modern facilities.
The Royal Bell will reopen as a five-storey venue encompassing a boutique hotel with fourteen rooms, a private members’ club with lounges, co-working spaces and a library, as well as a grand ballroom.
The space will also facilitate a new social space in Bromley with The Royal Hall, for live performances and events along with a bar and grill, pizza and coffee café in partnership with celebrity chef Aldo Zilli.
After a long stint of being out of use, the refurbishment of the hotel is set to offer a new local space for Bromley that doesn’t stray too far away to how this historic building would have been used over the centuries it has been a part of Bromley.
