The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-12 00:00:00

The Charing-Cross Railway Hotel.

The magnifi3ent pile of building intended for the
Charing-cross Hotel, now rapidly approaching com-
pletion, will certainly rank among the finest archi-
tectural features of modern times. The building
h.s a frontage to the Strand of about 300 feet, the
lower portion being occupied by the booking and
other offices connected with the railway. An east
wing of the building also occupies one aide of
Villiers-street. The hotel and station combined form
one of the happiest productions of Mr Edw. Barry's
architectural genius. The building combines, in a
very hippy manner, boldness of general design
with most careful attention to all the accessories
of detailed ornamentation. The introduction of
coloured decorative materials has a very agree.
able effect, and there is a pleasing variety in the
upper portion of the building caused by the terminal
towers, the raised roof, and other minor decorations,
which greatly relieve the sky line of the building.
court.yard in front of the building affords
gratifying indication or the spirit by which railway
directors—or some out of them at least—ara ani.

mated with respect to the fine arts. Railway com-
panies, as a general rule, have paid but litee
attention to the consideration of arcbitectural
effect in connection with the many stations, bridges
and viaducts which their engineers have con-
structed, It shows a decided improvement in this
state of things when the directors of Charing•cross
Railway, availing themselves of the name and bite
of the station, have erected in the open court yard
a revival of Edward lll.'s E!eanor Cross, which
once stood at the village of Charing, and a descrip-
tion of which has already appeared in the Railway
News.

The entrance to the hotel will be from the
Strand, through a noble hal! 30 feet square, and
lofty in proportion. The walls are of marble, and
the approech to the grand staircase is through a
corridor of marble columns. The grand staircase
occupies a space of 32 by 30 feet, and the stairs are
supported throughout by iron girders. On the
ground floor there is a large refreshment-room con-
Electing with the railway station. This is 48 feet
square, and here it is to be hoped some interesting
and useful experiments will be made in the way of
improving the quality of railway refreshments. On

the first floor of the hotel there is a handsome coffee
room 48ft E guar e, richly decorated, the ceiErg espe-
cially beir g very elaborately and artistic illy orna-
mented, The room is to be lighted by four sun-
burners, and all noxious products of combustion will
be carried away. The ventilation of this, as of the
other portions of the hotel, is effected by the employ-
ment of an iron shaft 200 ft long, and reaching from
the extreme top of the tower to the basement of the
building, an upward draught being caused by a fur.
nace fire. Oa the same floor as the coffee-room

is a reading-room of nearly Equal dimensions, the
windows looking over the station, and commanding
a splendid view of the river and the country on the
south side. A ladies' coffee-room is also provided
on the first floor, and this is to be fitted with great
taste. A large room for public meetings is also
provided, 57ft by-23 ; and adjoining it is a smoking-
room 26ft by 23, and ntxt to it a large billiard-
room. In connection with the smoking-room
there is a light balcony overlooking the station,
which will form a most agreeable lounge for the

enjoyment of the fragrant weed. o.her of the
principal rooms of the hotel will be adapted for cm-
mittee or small public meetings. The arrangement

of the interior of the building has been the subject
of much forethought, with a view to affording the
greatest amount of comfort to the visitors and con•
venience in carrying out the business of the hotel.
the hotel cc ,silts of a ground floor, first, MEZI.
nine, second, third, fourth, and fifth floors. Then
there are the east and west towers, each of
two stories in height. A lift, which will convey
twelve people from the ground floor to the top of
the building, is provided, as well as smaller lifts for
the service of the hotel on each floor. The total
number of rooms in the hotel is about 300, and they
are so arranged and distributed as to meetthe wants
of all classes—from that of the traveller of very
moderate means to the princely rtquirf ments of
the most wealthy and aristocratic of viditoro to this
country.—Railway Newa.