Complex sentence: John Watson opened the hotel as an exclusive whites-only hotel, and it was the swankiest hotel in the city in those days.then it was handed over Hannah Maria Watson, by then the secretary of state for India.
Split into simpler sentences: John Watson opened the hotel as an exclusive whites-only hotel, and it was the swankiest hotel in the city in those days. Then it was handed over Hannah Maria Watson, by then the secretary of state for India.