The Grand Hotel in Marseilles, 1863

The Grand Hotel on the left, the New Galleries on the right

Named at its beginning "Le Grand Hôtel de Marseille", the establishment welcomes many celebrities such as Gandhi in 1931. Charles Trent made his debut there in the establishment's cabaret.  The Grand Hotel Noailles-Metropole, its neighbour, also built in 1865 on the site of Jean-Baptiste Chabert's former private mansion, has since become the headquarters of a bank and an office building.

The two establishments will also be united under the same management in 1956 and together will total more than 300 rooms.

Located in front of the store The New Galleries, the Grand Hotel will suffer significant damage during the tragic fire of the latter, October 28, 1938 which made a total of 73 victims which will be worth to the city a guardianship.

In advertising of the time, the hotel presents its rooms as “spacious with the very latest improvements: apartments with lounges, bedrooms with private bathrooms and WCs”.

The hotel is made up of a large hall, a dining room and has its own cabaret. Its Louis XIV restaurant was, according to the establishment, “splendid” and “the most renowned in the city”.

The Grand Hotel had in its building the agency of the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons Lits to facilitate travel procedures for its customers. The hotel also had since 1866 the Grand Café Glacier further down the Canebiere face Palais de la Bourse. The hotel will close its doors in the 60s, then will be abandoned until the early 2000s before being transformed into a central police station in 2004.

The building was renovated by Montpellier architect Emmanuel Nebout. The 4 m² of floors have been completely rehabilitated and two basement levels have been transformed into parking reserved for service vehicles. A total of 000 national police officers have since invested the premises.