The historic
Best Western Midland Hotel was opened in 1841 for 'Accommodation of the Gentry and Nobility'. During the 1840's Queen Victoria visited the hotel several time and a suite of rooms was made for her. Other visitors in those early years would have been local Derbyshire gentry perhaps travelling to and from London on the newly opened L.M.S. Railway.
The hotel also has a long association with Rolls Royce. In 1913 Claude Johnson a
Senior Manager with Rolls Royce kept a permanent ‘suite’ at the hotel as he was such a regular visitor. From 1921 through to 1945 most Rolls Royce A.G.M. meetings were held at The Midland, along with numerous other meetings and dinners.