The Woodhall Spa Hotel is the oldest surviving hotel in Woodhall Spa and has been a hotel for at least thirty years longer than any other hotel in the village. It is now fully renovated to meet the needs of the 21st Century traveller, whilst it sontinues to show its Arts and Crafts heritage.

125 Years of Service 1882 - 2007

The original building, Eagle House, was built in about 1870 as a home for Charles Blyton who owned a large amount of land in the area and a nursery on what is now Spa Road. In 1882 Eagle House was converted into an hotel and opened as The Eagle Lodge Hotel.

During the ealy part of the village's development, Richard Adolphus Came, the architect of many of the distinctive buildings in the Spa village, stayed at The Eagle Lodge Hotel prior to moving into his own newly built Royal Hotel (which was destroyed by a bomb in WW2). In fact, in March 1887, Came advertised estate plans and particulars of shops or houses which could be applied for at The Eagle Lodge,

The hotel was refurbished and extended in the "Arts and Crafts" style into the current purpose-built hotel in 1889 to serve the then thriving Victorian spa village of Woodhall Spa. The 1891 census shows that Jane Curry was the hotel manager and Catherine Wilson was the cook.

The Eagle Lodge Hotel was only the second hotel to be built in Woodhall Spa (the first being the Victoria Hotel which opened in 1840 and burnt down in April 1920). For a long time during the Edwardian period The Eagle Lodge Hotel was run by Miss Lamb. It was advertised as:

Fully Licensed, Own Grounds,
Garage and Livery Stables.
Tariff on application to Miss Lamb.

(The village's health centre was built on the hotel's livery stables and garages.)

In the Terrace Room you can see the sale particulars of the hotel from 1910 and in the corridor to The Lodge Restaurant you will see those from 1935.

On 9th April 1921 it was noted that 'Prince Frederick Duleep Singh is again a visitor to the Spa this season and is staying at The Eagle Lodge Hotel.' Frederick was the flambouyant historian son of the last Maharajah of the Punjab.

During the Second World War RAF Woodhall Spa became famous for hosting 617 Squadron, "The Dambusters". The officers of 617 were housed at The Petwood Hotel. 97, 619 and 627 Squadrons' officers were housed in accommodation on the base at Tattershall Park. All the NCOs, airmen and WAAFs were housed in nissen huts around the airfield! Many of the aircrew were Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs), mainly sergeants and warrant officers. Bill Burke, a navigator on 627 Squadron which flew Mosquitos from RAF Woodhall Spa, said "I knew that the squadron I was on was an elite squadron, and I knew that the station that I was on was possibly Bomber Command's most elite station because on the other side of the aerodrome we had 617 Squadron, the Dambusters." The Eagle Lodge Hotel, unlike the other hotels in the village, was not requisitioned by the army. In the history of the airbase, one airman recalled, "To the right of Woodhall Junction Station was the Abbey Lodge Hotel where occasionally we took refreshment but as I remember our drinking was mainly at The Eagle Lodge". The Garden Bar has some memorabilia of the exploits of those airmen - brave young men doing a very dangerous and difficult job.

After the war, due to the decline in spa, The Eagle Lodge Hotel was converted into a nursing home in the late 1960s. It then reopened as an hotel in 1991. During late 2005 it was acquired by Hoby Hotels and underwent a major refurbishment to meet the requirements of the 21st Century visitor. It re-opened as The Woodhall Spa Hotel at the end of March 2006.