Dorset Deco DT3 6PR

When I was a child grubbing in the sands of Weymouth, my eye would often stray toward an incongruous-looking building floating in the far distance. It intrigued me because it seemed so defiantly out of place in its surroundings. A long and low piece of stark geometry contrasting starkly with the green hillscape. Time passed, and it wasn't until a couple of years ago I finally investigated.
It was on one of those good-to-be-alive days when you felt that God was not only an Englishman but a Dorset man as well. 
The sea twinkled and fluffy white clouds chased across a dazzling, turquoise blue sky. I let out a whoop of excitement... as there before me stood the most perfect piece of maritime deco. 
The Riviera Hotel was built 1937 but the outbreak of war meant it was soon requisitioned as a hospital for American troops. With war's end it became a hotel once more though by the late fifties, its short heyday past, it became a holiday camp. From there on it was all downhill. 
Cast concrete and steel don't weather well especially by the sea and when I saw it it had become like a beautiful old lady, attractive from a distance.. but not bearing close scrutiny.
It was heartbreaking. 
The hotel's situation rivals any on the real Riviera overlooking as it does the sweep of Weymouth Bay. The main building takes the form of a low, two story crescent relieved in the middle by a square central tower, its facade a series of arcades giving every room the same magnificent view across the bay. The architect, L.Stewart Smith's deft use of proportion means that though plain, the Riviera is never boring (modernists note!). 
Recently I heard the Rivera has been awarded a new lease of life by an Arab consortium. It has been revamped, repaired and generally given the kiss of life. Sadly, though, its deco credentials have been virtually ignored and its rooms revamped in bland international style. If only they had looked to Burgh Island in Devon, another Deco masterpiece also in a unique setting. www.burghisland.com.
Still until someone decides to turn the sea into a car park they can never steal its view.
www.rivierahotelweymouth.co.uk