A Maharaja on the English Riviera? Redcliffe Hotel’s future revealed

The Redcliffe Hotel at Paignton occupies one of the most enviable positions of any hotel in Devon.

It stands on a sandstone headland between Paignton and Preston beaches, commanding the best possible views of the complete panorama of Torbay. 

It’s a landmark, and will be even more so when its year-long refurbishment is complete this time in 2027.

But why does it look like an Indian Maharaja’s palace, and why will it look even more like one when the current makeover is complete?

Redcliffe House was designed in 1852 to be the home of Robert Smith, who had recently returned from military service in India.

Smith was born in France in 1787, and went to India at the age of 16 to work for the East India Company, with which his family had strong links. He enlisted as a military cadet and later joined the Bengal Engineers.

He was a skilled surveyor, mapmaker and draughtsman, and found himself carrying out detailed surveys of the terrain. His patrons said he was the best draughtsman they had met.

Writer and photographer Gethin Thomas notes in his ‘My World Photography’ blog that Smith fought in Mauritius and Nepal, and went on to design bridges, roads, harbours and even a lighthouse. He took private commissions for large houses and designed palaces for the Indian Rajah of Murshidabad in West Bengal.

He worked to restore buildings which have become notable tourist attractions, and his experience of working with Indian red sandstone would later shape his approach to the Redcliffe project.

He worked on the huge Qutb Minar tower in Delhi, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. He combined military service with artistic talent, producing vivid records of 19th Century India before photography, and later built hybrid Indian-style homes in Europe..

In 1832, at the age of just 45, ill health led him to retire from his work in India. The Torbay Civic Society notes that Smith eventually retired from the army as a Honorary Colonel aged 63.

His sister Mary, who lived in Torquay’s Warren Road, was his only surviving relative. This prompted him to move to Devon, where he found the rocky outcrop where he would build the Redcliffe.

He had inherited the wealth of his bride, a French heiress, and spent considerable sums on the creation of the Redcliffe. Local builder J.R.K Tozer took on the project based on Robert Smith’s own designs which were, according to documents held at University College London, a fusion of Indian, Italian and Gothic features.

It has a central rotunda and two wings.

The project was completed in 1864, and Robert Smith and his son moved in with an entourage of servants. However, when his sister died in 1872 he moved back to Warren Road and lived there until his own death in September 1873.

Robert and Mary were both buried in Teignmouth Cemetery. Robert Smith’s art is preserved in collections such as the Yale Centre for British Art in Connecticut and the India Office Library in London.

The Singer family, whose own lavish Oldway Mansion had taken shape nearby at roughly the same time, acquired the Redcliffe and turned it into a convalescent home for sailors and soldiers before it became a modest hotel in 1902.

The Twigger family took it on in 1979 and developed it into one of Torbay’s foremost hotels. Famous guests included the novelist Dick Francis and cricket umpire Dickie Bird, both of whom stayed there many times. Dick Francis was such a regular annual guest that the hotel named a suite after him.

The Tudor Hotels Collection, which also has Cornwall’s Bodmin Jail in its portfolio, acquired the Redcliffe in 2021. The current renovation will take 12 months to complete

The owners say they want to turn The Redcliffe into ‘the ultimate celebration of luxury’ with a set of plans unveiled in 2024 and granted permission by Torbay Council. The new design restores some of the Indian style of the original design.

Inside, the number of guest rooms will be cut from 67 to 55, with the ground floor function room converted into guest rooms. There will be a new restaurant/bar and enhanced spa facilities, hotel bar and hotel dining.