History of Maison Des Landes Hotel

Maison des Landes Hotel began life as a smallholding out in the wilds of Les Landes in Jersey. For seven years it was the home of Henry and Elizabeth Ashton Edwards. Henry died in 1962 leaving Elizabeth with the cottage and a small area of land where she and her husband had spent many happy years notwithstanding that Henry had suffered ill health and disability. Having previously had young disabled people stay with them on holiday, Elizabeth knew of the problems faced by them in accommodation not adapted to their needs.

With the aid of the Lions Club of Jersey, the seed was sown and today many disabled people are enjoying the harvest of that early concept of a hotel for the disabled.

The Lions Club of Jersey had been chartered in 1963 and the Maison des Landes Hotel for the Disabled was its first major project.  The hotel opened for its first formal guests in 1965.  Since then many thousands of disabled visitors and their carers have enjoyed the hotel’s unique facilities. 

Today Elizabeth’s original cottage has been augmented by wings of guest rooms, modern kitchen and dining facilities and an indoor special-needs heated swimming pool.  Guests enjoy Island tours, in-hotel entertainment and what is still essentially full board accommodation in en-suite accommodation.  

Maison des Landes Hotel had 26 rooms and was able to cater for 44 guests, mostly the disabled and their carers. Now, after celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2007 when an ambitious programme of extension was begun, the hotel has an extra three double rooms. Every room, both old and new, is designed with the disabled in mind – special beds, hoists to enabled the severely disabled to get into and out of bed, walk-in showers with all the necessary aids for bathing, a specially designed swimming pool with easy ramp or hoist access, and, of course, those very important blue minibuses that are so familiar on the Jersey roads.

The whole concept was that of Elizabeth Ashton Edwards - the original energy, the drive, the enthusiasm was all hers – and to-day the Lions Club of Jersey, through the board of Trustees (all members of the Lions Club) appointed each year by their President, continues the work so well founded by her.

Three new rooms were opened officially by His Excellency the Lt Governor of Jersey, Lt General Andrew Ridgway, and his wife Valerie.  They have been occupied by hotel guests since mid-May 2008. At the close of the 2008 season the existing building will be renovated so that when the hotel opens for the following season it will have been completely refurbished. The cost of this additional work is in the region of £150,000.   This will allow the Trustees to provide first class facilities at the hotel for both local residents and visitors to Jersey for many years to come.