Little did Mr Stacey know at the time that he had founded that not only an hotel, but a place which, as the years passed, would become very much part of the social and civic life of Ramsgate. A 1904 brochure of the Hotel St Cloud, St Lawrence-on-Sea, Ramsgate, gives a most interesting insight into a middle class hotel of that period.
En Pension Charges
From 2 ½ to 4 guineas per week to include
Table d'Hõte Breakfast, Luncheon, Afternoon Tea, Dinner and Bedroom.
Fires in Bed or Sitting Room per day 1/6d
Baths: Hot 1/-; Cold 6d; Sea Water hot or cold per pail 6d.
Dogs charged 1/- per day and not allowed in any of the public rooms. No large dogs admitted, but they can be cared for at the stables.
Good stabling and loose boxes, Flys and Private Carriages at a moment's notice.
Accommodation near the hotel can be provided for motor cars; petrol obtainable.
The Hotel is furnished and decorated in a very superior manner, and with that artistic elegance which appeals to the refined taste. It has upwards of 50 Bed and Sitting Rooms, with spacious Public Rooms viz: Coffee and Table d'H6te Room, Ladies Drawing Room, Reading and Writing Rooms, Smoking Room.
The Cuisine, which is made a great speciality, is under the care of famous French and English cooks.
Such was the fame of the hotel that in July 1904, after only seven years, the Hotel Chef, Mr Scrivener, was asked to prepare an eight course meal at the Town Hall for the visit of Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, who had come to open the Royal Victoria Pavilion erected in memory of her mother, Queen Victoria.
Mr Stacey, with his, by now, well-established hotel, entered into the life of the town, and on 15th July 1904 he became one of the first Directors of the 'East Kent Times', which for well over a hundred years was Ramsgate's much loved local newspaper. The changing type of visitor to the south coast was by then looking for more than the ozone and the famous sands.
Entertainment was needed. In this field Mr Stacey was a master and he ensured that first class London companies appeared at the Palace Theatre, with Variety at the Pavilion. However, his striking successes with fetes in Ellington Park had crowds from all over East Kent and London making for Ramsgate. One such event during Easter 1912 had no less than twelve military bands taking part, with a great Tattoo in the evening. After the 1914/18 war these and other events, once the sole work of Mr Stacey, were taken over by the Borough Council, but Mr Stacey could well be regarded in Ramsgate as the father of the modern holiday trade.
The hotel carried on through the First World War, during which Ramsgate was, according to a book published in 1919 by Chas. A.F. Austin with a Foreword by Horatio Bottomley, MP, the founder of 'John Bull' magazine, 'England's most bombed town'. It stated that the first raid was something of a novelty, but within a few months, the population was halved and visitors thought it safer to stay at home. It must therefore have come as no surprise to everyone that Mr Stacey decided to sell the hotel in 1919 and he soon found a buyer in a Mr Sugden who paid him £10,000.
Everything carried on as normal until in 1922 Mr Sugden decided to change the name from St Cloud to San Clu. This was because the local populace insisted on pronouncing it Saint Cloud instead of giving it the French pronunciation 'San Clu'.
However, apart from the change of name the hotel saw very little change in the 1920s. Prices were still only £5.5s.0d per week; servants daily 12/6d; a bath was still 1/-; but dogs were now 2/6d a day. The Dining Room was still one of the finest on the coast, but it was the Billiard Room which was the pride of the place, with its fine oak panelled walls and decorations of swords and armour. Its inviting new billiard table was considered one of the showpieces of Thanet.
On the night of 26th October 1928 everything was to change when the hotel was gutted by a disastrous fire. For six hours the combined energies of the Ramsgate, Broadstairs and Margate Fire Brigades ensured that part of the hotel and the adjoin- ing three houses, now flats, were saved. Fortunately there was no one in the hotel at the time, as it was closed for redecoration, although due to be opened again at Christmas. The fire was discovered at 2.10 a.m. by P.C. Ford of the Ramsgate Borough Police Force, who went to the nearest street alarm post and gave the alarm. Under the direction of the Chief Constable (Mr S.F. Butler) the residents of the adjoining houses were helped to safety. Furniture was taken into the road and also stored in the Coastguard Station. Throughout the night many people were awakened by the glare which could be seen from Margate and Deal as well as for miles out to sea, and they came in large numbers to watch the brigades in their efforts to put out the blaze. By morning more and more people had gathered and barricades were put across Victoria Parade, Albert Road and Thanet Road. The hotel owner, Major Watkins, who had taken it over from Mr Champneys-Taylor, the third owner, some two years before, was able to rescue some swords from the billiard room.
Following the fire, four of the five houses which had formed the hotel were demolished and they have never been rebuilt. Many would have given up at this point, but Major Watkins set to work restoring the one section which was left and within a year it was back in business.