Jersey-based Seymour Hotels is celebrating its centenary this year, marking 100 years of Seymour family ownership of the hospitality business.
Over the past 100 years, the group has grown from one guesthouse to encompass three hotels and a waterfront diner, but is still family owned and directly managed by the descendants of the original owners.
George and Adelina (Ada) Seymour fell in love with Jersey on their honeymoon in 1919. The next year they returned and opened a guesthouse. 100 years and five generations later, the Seymour Hotel group continues to play a significant role in the island’s tourism industry. Three generations of the family are active in directing and running the successful business which now represents over 10% of Jersey’s registered bedstock.
David Seymour, managing director of Seymour Hotels, said, ‘My grandparents, George and Ada were entrepreneurial hoteliers and helped to put Jersey on the tourism map. Their passion for service and dedication to making guests feel part of the Seymour family laid the foundation for the business to flourish through ten decades.
‘As a family, we have taken the opportunity in our centenary year to reflect on the last 100 years: the significant changes that have taken place across the hospitality industry; the German Occupation of Jersey in WW2 and having to rise from the ashes to re-build the family business after Liberation from occupying forces in 1945; being the first hotel on Jersey to take internet bookings, the recent completion of our £5 million investment programme and, of course, our exceptional staff without whom our success would not have been possible. We know that whatever the next hundred years may bring, our guests will continue to be at the heart of everything we do.’
The Seymour family has been at the forefront of shaping hospitality in the island and has witnessed significant changes to the tourism industry. A centenary website and short film have been created to tell the Seymour story and house imagery from the extensive Seymour’s archive. It delves into the heritage of the hotel group and provides an insight into a century of creating happy holiday memories.
Further information about the centenary can be found at www.seymour100.com and the video can be seen at https://www.seymourhotels.com/seymour-100/seymour-at-100/seymour-centenary-film/
