Falmouth Beach Hotel: 104 bedrooms destroyed after huge blaze

A huge fire which tore through an iconic Falmouth hotel has decimated 104 of 120 of the site's bedrooms.

The fire started at the popular Falmouth Beach Hotel, operated by Best Western, in the Gyllyngvase area, around noon Monday. Best Western have confirmed that the majority of the building has been destroyed, though the leisure club is believed to still be standing.

"Assessors are on scene this morning and we will be able to advise of further details once a full analysis has taken place," said Best Western.

Devon & Cornwall police confirmed that three previously unaccounted for guests have been located and that there were no injuries in the blaze.

Firefighters said the fire started at the rear of the property in Cliff Road and was whipped up by gale-force winds. Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service are still in attendance monitoring the gutted building and "damping down" much of the damage.

More than 100 firefighters tackled the blaze at its peak. An investigation into what caused the fire is underway.

Sean White, 28, and owner of the nearby Wesup Paddleboard Centre, which caters for many guests staying at the hotel, told Yahoo! News, "It's such a shame as it's a lovely hotel with a beautiful spa. It's really well loved by locals and obviously tourists.

"Luckily a coachload of guests left an hour before the fire broke out so there weren't as many people affected as there might have been."

The mayor of Falmouth, Geoffrey Evans, told BBC News that the fire "couldn't have happened at a worse time".

"It's right at the start of the holiday season, we've got the Olympic Torch coming in a few weeks, and the Finn Cup (sailing competition) as well, so I don't know how this is going to affect accommodation," he said.

"I think the hotel was fully booked, so to lose such a prominent hotel at this time of the year is a complete disaster. The smoke's going right through the town and the fire has spread and completely gutted one side of the hotel."

Blur guitarist Graham Coxon had been staying at the hotel prior to playing a solo gig in Falmouth and told of his sadness as the fire intensified.

"We have rooms at the beach hotel and had to leave when the smell of smoke for a little much [sic]," he posted on Twitter. "We watched it... We had to leave the foyer and then watch it get worse and worse..rather sad".

Many took to others took to the social networking site to express their sadness.

Kirsty Dalton tweeted: "Smokey skies and circling helicopter, such a shame about falmouth beach hotel!"

Another user wrote: "So sad to see the loss of the falmouth beach hotel, such a lovely place, thoughts are with you."