There is not so much left here in Southampton, the german bombardments have almost destroyed everything. After the Second World War, the city was rebuilt maintaining its style. But there still is a place where the beauty and the grandeur of days gone by, can be visit and touched. Very close to the docs, proud about its history there is  South Western House (before – South Western Hotel), designed by John Norton and opened its doors in 1872. Its grandeur reflected the wealth of the shipping industry at that time. The public areas are particularly beautiful, with a great deal of marble and elaborate ironwork on the passenger lift shafts and the staircases. In fact the main staircase was the prototype for the grand staircase on the Titanic. The building still shows evidence of the grandeur of days gone by.
The building played host to many distinguished guests. Two very notable ones were Winston Churchill and Dwight Eisenhower during the Second World War. The men planned the D Day invasion in one of the small public rooms on the first floor. There is also photographic evidence that the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother visited the Hotel
More recently, Berkeley Homes re-developed the upper floors into 94 luxury apartments and penthouses. The remaining ground floor space has been developed into 15 Studio Apartments by Bayview Homes.