The International Agatha Christie Festival is this year holding a hospitality event at the Imperial Hotel, a hotel she knew and also put into her books, so let’s take a closer look.
When the Imperial opened in the fall of 1866, Torquay was already a tourist town. During the Napoleonic Wars, the harbor held British ships, and naval families would come to Torquay for extended stays to be near their husbands and fathers.
Those people liked Torquay’s mild climate so much that the area began to build a reputation as a healthy spot for recuperating invalids. From the 1820s into the 1840s, hotels and boarding houses proliferated to provide rooms for patients seeking seaside air. Sea-bathing was also a popular “cure,” and the first Bath House in Torquay was built in 1917.
To amuse people when they weren’t bathing, halls were built for concerts, dancing, and even roller-skating. As it grew, the city underwent extensive redevelopment to improve the harbor, the infrastructure, and the appeal of the commercial and residential areas.
Before she became Queen, a young Princess Victoria visited Torquay. More rich and famous people followed her lead, and when Torquay got a railway station, its popularity really boomed. People arrived now for a relaxing holiday rather than for their health, and fancy new villas and hotels were built, including the Imperial.
The cliffside Imperial Hotel boasted ensuite bedrooms, exceptional dining, and access to the recently completed Marine Spa bath complex. Before long, royalty such as Napoleon III, Nikolaus III, and Queen Sophie of the Netherlands were Imperial guests.
Well-to-do Torquay residents also visited the Imperial to have tea, take in a concert, or attend a social event. As the Frederick Millers moved in those circles in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Agatha Christie was very familiar with the Imperial Hotel.
Christie experts suggest that the “Majestic Hotel” from Peril at End House is based on the Imperial, as is the “Majestic Hotel” from The Body in the Library. Although they have the same name, Peril’s Majestic is in “St. Loo” while Body’s Majestic is in “Danemouth.”
In the Miss Marple story Sleeping Murder, there’s no fictional subterfuge:
They were all three—Miss Marple, Gwenda and Giles—sitting on the terrace of the Imperial Hotel at Torquay.
If you are going to the International Agatha Christie Festival in September, you have the opportunity to socialize in the Imperial Hotel just like Miss Marple! I wish I could join you, but in the meantime, I have the photos taken during our last visit to the Imperial to enjoy. And, of course, Christie’s books!