Gleneagles Hotel, Torquay

Last updated

Gleneagles Hotel
Gleneagles Hotel, Torquay - geograph.org.uk - 1444339.jpg
Hotel in 2009
Gleneagles Hotel, Torquay
Alternative namesBest Western Gleneagles Hotel
General information
Architectural style Modern
Coordinates 50°28′11″N3°30′13.5″W / 50.46972°N 3.503750°W / 50.46972; -3.503750
Opened1963
ClosedFebruary 2015
Technical details
Floor count3
Other information
Number of rooms41
Parking28

The Gleneagles Hotel was a hotel in Torquay, Devon, England. The 41-bed establishment, which opened in the 1960s, was the inspiration for Fawlty Towers , a British situation comedy first broadcast in the mid-1970s. John Cleese, and his then wife Connie Booth, were inspired to write the series after they had stayed at the hotel, where they witnessed the eccentric behaviour of its co-owner, Donald Sinclair, who ran the hotel with his wife, Beatrice, until they sold it in 1973. Later the hotel was managed by Best Western. The hotel closed in February 2015 and replaced by retirement apartments.

Contents

History

The Gleneagles was not originally built as a hotel but was modified to become one. The hotel was first opened in 1963 and was managed by Beatrice Sinclair and her husband, Donald. [1] It was initially described as "upmarket" because it advertised private bathrooms in every room. [2] It gained a four-star hotel rating and was complemented in guidebooks for the standard of accommodation it offered. [1]

In the early 1970s, cast members of Monty Python's Flying Circus stayed at the Gleneagles for a planned three weeks, while filming in Paignton. [3] Due to Donald Sinclair's rudeness towards them, which included criticising Terry Gilliam's "too American" table etiquette and tossing Eric Idle's briefcase out of a window "in case it contained a bomb", [4] the cast left the hotel apart from John Cleese and his wife, Connie Booth. [2] Cleese described the owner as "the most marvellously rude man I've ever met" and based his Basil Fawlty character on him, when he and Booth created Fawlty Towers five years later. [5]

While Donald Sinclair became known for his eccentric and rude behaviour, Beatrice Sinclair remained the driving force behind the hotel and was responsible for making it a successful business. [6] The couple sold Gleneagles in 1973 and it eventually became a part of the Best Western hotel chain. [7] For the rest of its existence, the hotel retained a reminder of their legacy: the 41 rooms all had names such as Coral or Mimosa. This was introduced in the Sinclair era of Gleneagles. [1] Many guests were fans of Fawlty Towers who had travelled specifically just to experience staying at the hotel. [8]

In August 2003, developers submitted plans to demolish the hotel and build a block of flats on the site, claiming the building was "unattractive with little architectural merit". [8] In October, Torbay Town Council rejected the application, stating that it would be against its rules of tourism. [9] In September 2006, Prunella Scales, who played Sybil Fawlty, was "guest of honour" at the reopening of the hotel after a £1 million makeover. [4]

After the hotel was closed permanently in February 2015, permission was given in November 2015 to demolish the hotel and replace it with retirement apartments built by the Churchill Retirement Living. [10] [11] The development was named Sachs Lodge in memory of Andrew Sachs who played Manuel in the sitcom and who died in 2016. [12]

The Gleneagles Hotel is mentioned in "The Builders" episode of Fawlty Towers as a suggestion for alternative dinner arrangements for the guests while Fawlty Towers was undergoing renovations. [13]

Related Research Articles

<i>Fawlty Towers</i> British TV sitcom (1975–1979)

Fawlty Towers is a British television sitcom written by John Cleese and Connie Booth, originally broadcast on BBC Two in 1975 and 1979. Two series of six episodes each were made. The series is set in Fawlty Towers, a dysfunctional fictional hotel in the English seaside town of Torquay in Devon. The plots centre on the tense, rude and put-upon owner Basil Fawlty (Cleese), his bossy wife Sybil, the sensible chambermaid Polly (Booth), and the hapless and English-challenged Spanish waiter Manuel. They show their attempts to run the hotel amidst farcical situations and an array of demanding and eccentric guests and tradespeople.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Cleese</span> English comedian and actor (born 1939)

John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and presenter. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report. In the late 1960s, he cofounded Monty Python, the comedy troupe responsible for the sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus. Along with his Python costars Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Graham Chapman, Cleese starred in Monty Python films, which include Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979), and The Meaning of Life (1983).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torquay</span> Town in Devon, England

Torquay is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies 18 miles (29 km) south of the county town of Exeter and 28 miles (45 km) east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignton on the west of the bay and across from the fishing port of Brixham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prunella Scales</span> British actor (born 1932)

Prunella Margaret Rumney West Scales is an English retired actor. She portrayed Sybil Fawlty, the bossy wife of Basil Fawlty, in the BBC comedy Fawlty Towers, Queen Elizabeth II in A Question of Attribution by Alan Bennett and appeared in the documentary series Great Canal Journeys (2014–2021), travelling on narrowboats with her husband, fellow actor Timothy West.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connie Booth</span> American writer and actress (born 1940)

Connie Booth is an American actress and writer. She has appeared in several British television programmes and films, including her role as Polly Sherman on BBC Two's Fawlty Towers, which she co-wrote with her then-husband John Cleese. In 1995, she quit acting and worked as a psychotherapist until her retirement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paignton</span> Seaside town in Devon, England

Paignton is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the borough of Torbay which was created in 1968. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paignton has origins as a Celtic settlement and was first mentioned in 1086. It grew as a small fishing village and a new harbour was built in 1847. A railway line was opened to passengers in 1859 creating links to Torquay and London. As its population increased, it merged with the villages of Goodrington and Preston. Paignton is around 25 miles (40 km) north east of Plymouth and 20 miles (32 km) south of Exeter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Sachs</span> British actor (1930–2016)

Andreas Siegfried Sachs, known professionally as Andrew Sachs, was a German-born British actor. He made his name on British television and found his greatest fame for his portrayal of the comical Spanish waiter Manuel in Fawlty Towers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Germans</span> 6th episode of the 1st series of Fawlty Towers

"The Germans" is the sixth episode of the first series of the British television sitcom Fawlty Towers. Written by John Cleese and Connie Booth and directed by John Howard Davies, it was first broadcast on BBC2 on 24 October 1975.

<i>Payne</i> (TV series) 1999 American TV series or program

Payne is a 1999 American sitcom adapted from the 1970s British television comedy Fawlty Towers. This adaptation, which was a mid-season replacement on CBS, originally aired from March 15 to May 4, 1999. It costars John Larroquette, who was also an executive producer for the series, and JoBeth Williams. Featured too as regular supporting characters are Julie Benz and Rick Batalla. Despite receiving the blessing of John Cleese, who reportedly agreed to be an "irregular cast member" and perform in a recurring role as a rival hotelier if Payne were renewed, the series was cancelled following the broadcast of its eighth episode. A total of nine episodes were filmed, but one was not aired as part of the series' original presentation on CBS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basil Fawlty</span> Character in the British comedy series Fawlty Towers

Basil Fawlty is the main character of the 1970s British sitcom Fawlty Towers, played by John Cleese. The proprietor of the hotel Fawlty Towers, he is a cynical and misanthropic snob, desperate to attract hotel guests from the British upper class. His inept attempts to run an efficient hotel, however, usually end in farce. Possessing a dry, sarcastic wit, Basil has become an iconic British comedy character who remains widely known to the public despite only 12 half-hour episodes ever having been made.

Manuel (<i>Fawlty Towers</i>) Fictional character from the BBC sitcom

Manuel is a fictional character from the BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers, played by Andrew Sachs. He reappeared for a small sketch with John Cleese in We Are Most Amused in November 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald Sinclair (hotel owner)</span> British hotel owner

Donald William Sinclair was the co-proprietor of the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay, Devon, England. He helped manage the hotel after an extensive career as an officer in the Merchant Navy and the Royal Navy. During the Second World War, Sinclair twice survived the sinking of the ships on which he was serving.

Waldorf Salad (<i>Fawlty Towers</i>) 3rd episode of the 2nd series of Fawlty Towers

"Waldorf Salad" is the third episode of the second series of the British television sitcom Fawlty Towers. Written by John Cleese and Connie Booth and directed by Bob Spiers, it was first broadcast on BBC2 on 5 March 1979.

<i>Amandas</i> 1983 American TV series or program

Amanda's is an American sitcom television series based on the 1970s British sitcom Fawlty Towers that aired on ABC from February 10 to May 26, 1983. The series starred Bea Arthur as Amanda Cartwright, who owns a seaside hotel called "Amanda's by the Sea" and was Arthur's first return to series television since her sitcom Maude ended in 1978.

<i>Romance with a Double Bass</i> 1974 British short comedy film

Romance with a Double Bass is a 1974 British short comedy film directed by Robert Young and starring John Cleese and Connie Booth. It was adapted by Young, Cleese and Booth (uncredited) from a screenplay by Bill Owen based on the short story of the same name by Anton Chekhov.

Polly Sherman is a fictional character in the BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers. Played by Connie Booth, she is Fawlty Towers' long-suffering waitress and hotel maid.

"Don't Mention the World Cup", also titled "Don't Mention the War", is a 2006 song written by Dean Whitbread and Ashley Slater and performed by The First Eleven with John Cleese. Released to coincide with the 2006 FIFA World Cup, it was intended to dissuade supporters of the England national football team from referring to the Second World War while in Germany for the tournament.

Fawlty Towers: The Play is a comedy play by John Cleese based on his TV sitcom of the same name that he co-wrote with Connie Booth.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The Gleneagles Hotel, Torquay". www.seasidehistory.co.uk. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  2. 1 2 Savill, Richard (18 May 2002). "Fawlty hotelier was bonkers, says waitress". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 6 January 2014.
  3. ↑ Lethbridge, Henry J. (1 October 2003). Torquay & Paignton: the making of a modern resort. Phillimore. p. 201. ISBN   978-1-86077-260-3.
  4. 1 2 "Sybil back at Fawlty Towers". BBC. 18 September 2006. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
  5. ↑ Drum, Rosie (22 July 2011). The Simple Life?: A Candid Account of Rosie Drum's Life from 1960s Scotland. Xlibris Corporation. p. 20. ISBN   978-1-4628-9296-9.
  6. ↑ "Obituary: Beatrice Sinclair, fashion designer, dance hostess and hotelier". Kirkintilloch Herald. 28 September 2010. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  7. ↑ "Best Western Hotel Gleneagles". Best Western. Archived from the original on 19 September 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  8. 1 2 "'Fawlty' hotel may be demolished". BBC News. 21 August 2003. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
  9. ↑ "'Fawlty' hotel saved from threat". BBC News. 8 October 2003. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
  10. ↑ "'Fawlty Towers' hotel in Torquay to be demolished". BBC News . 26 November 2015.
  11. ↑ Morris, Steven (16 March 2016). "Hotel that inspired John Cleese's classic Fawlty Towers demolished". The Guardian. Guardian Newspapers. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  12. ↑ "Grand opening at Torquay retirement development". Churchill Retirement Living. Churchill Retirement Living Ltd. 30 August 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  13. ↑ "BBC Two – Fawlty Towers, Series 1, The Builders". BBC. 9 November 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.