19th Century

John Gardner bought what was to be known as the Old Government House Hotel in 1857, and opened as a hotel the following year (1858). Several years later the premises were extended when he acquired adjoining properties, but the character of the house was retained. 'An old and comfortable country mansion, was how a Victorian publication described it, a quality it retains to this day, despite inevitable modernisation and enlargement.

The 'Arrangements of the House' in the Gardner period are worth reproducing. Mr and Mrs John Gardner kept a splendid table whilst maintaining a somewhat rigid though benevolent regime over many years. Prayers were said in the dining room at 8.30am and breakfast followed. Dinner was at 1.30pm, tea followed at 5pm and supper at 8pm. Gongs were sounded at intervals before meals. The house closed at 10pm.

Bathroom Arrangements: 'Each person is requested to take a slip from the table at the bathroom door to his bedroom at night, corresponding with the time at which the bath will be required. The slip is to be replaced in the tablet when leaving the bathroom in the morning. A dressing gown will be found in each bedroom and rough towels in the bathroom. Other towels to be brought from the bedroom and taken back. Twenty minutes allowed for each person. When an extra quantity of hot water is desired, please inform the servant. Put all clothes that require brushing on a hook outside bedroom door.'

Luggage Arrangements directed that 'all luggage, bags, coats to be first gathered together and put in hall (close to heating coil) and before anything is taken out of the House, the owners must see that all is there ready to start'.

There were also arrangements about posting letters and visitors were informed that the Telegraph Office was open from 8am to 8pm, except on Sundays, when the hours were from 8am to 10pm. A guidebook of 1892 carried an advertisement, which mentioned that the hotel was 'long established for families and gentlemen. It had been recently greatly enlarged, with a splendid new billiards room and the finest dining saloon in the Channel Islands'.

Guernsey Illustrated, published in 1895, made reference to the hotel's quaint and cosy nooks and corners, its airy and commodious bedrooms and its fine, old-fashioned garden. It then had 100 bedrooms and the hotel could accommodate 130. There were five private suites, nine lavatories and bathrooms and two Burroughs & Watts billiard tables. Reference was made to the hotel's cuisine and its clientele 'of a high class and aristocratic order, which have included many of the royal and noble personages of England and the Continent'.