Portland Hotel, 153 Portland Road, Hove.
Blaster G. S. Howell.
Photograph made available by the James Gray collection/Regency Society
The Dukes of Portland owned extensive lands in west central Hove, and developed them from the 1870s onwards. The Portland Hotel was erected in 1896 and rebuilt in 1928.
Recently refurbished at cost of £150,000, the former hotel is now a family friendly pub called the Stoneham with its own authentic pizza restaurant.
Before its conversion to the Stoneham, the pub was known as the Portland Rock Bar, offering live music five nights a week. It supported many local causes such as the YMCA, PCRS, the café in the park and the skate park at the lagoon. Most people who drank there were aged in their 20s and were really just interested in the bands rather than causing trouble as was the case in many other pubs in the area.
