Westminster Hotel

Le Touquet, France | C.1924

Icon AWA Official Place

AWA featured place

Photo by: Bruno Solat

Named after the Duchess of Westminster, the Westminster hotel is infamous for hosting the rich and famous. The hotel is in Le Touquet, a seaside town in northern France known as a resort town for Britain’s “smart set” in the 1920s and beyond.

The hotel was built following the rapid development of Le Touquet as a resort town for wealthy Brits and vacationing Parisians. Architect Auguste Bluysen designed the 110-room structure in 1924, with an elegant art deco facade and numerous royal flourishes. As the hotel grew, the addition of another wing more than doubled the hotel’s capacity. During these early glory days, prestigious guests included Winston Churchill, the Prince of Wales, Marlene Dietrich, and countless others.

Though significantly damaged in a bombing during WWII, the hotel reopened not long after. In the 1950s and 60s, film stars, sportsmen, and international journalists patronized the premises. Perhaps the most influential moment occurred when Ian Fleming visited the casino in Le Touquet, and was subsequently inspired to create James Bond. When 007 graced the screen, Roger Moore himself stayed at Le Westminster. Another Bond, Sean Connery, signed his first 007 contract at the hotel.

Part of the west wing was converted into private luxury apartments in 1986, and today the hotel’s remaining 115 rooms, bar, and two restaurants are under renovation, with plans to reopen later in 2020. 

Submit Your Image
Create an account to comment! Login/Sign Up.

Partner

Add an image to Westminster Hotel

Tips for photos
  • The image must be created by you
  • Subject is symmetrically aligned, and a dash of color never hurts.
  • The place shown has some sort of historical significance
  • FAQs

Max file size is 40MB. JPEGs are preferred.

You do not have permission to view this form.

You did it! 🎉

Your submission has been sent to our team for review!

Please note, it can sometimes take us a month or more to get through all the submissions. There are only two of us reviewing, so we appreciate your patience, but we pinky-promise to email you if your submission is accepted, so keep an eye on your inbox for updates!

Got it!

Log in

Need an account? Sign up

Sign up

Already have an account? Log In

Enter your email to reset your password

Enter your new password