Birkdale College Smedley Hydro started out as Birkdale College, with 47 rooms, for the education of young gentlemen.
Hotel John Smedley formed the Smedley Hydropathic Company for £25,000 at £5 a share in August 1876. The company purchased the building for £7,500 and extended the building to accommodate 140 visitors as a hotel. The hotel offered luxurious facilities to guests, including a
spa which opened on a five-acre site on 1 May 1877, and was the first and only hydropathic hotel in Birkdale and the fourth out of six in Southport to offer hydrotherapy. In 1881 the
Birkdale Palace Hotel was refurbished and re-opened as a hydropathic spa as a rival to the Smedley. By 1882 the Smedley had two wings added, the west wing having the dining room and the east wing having the drawing room which led to the ballroom. Between 1924 and 1928, the hotel was closed while the main building had its roof raised to form a third storey and to be in line with the roof of the east and west wings. In 1932 the hotel became known as the Smedley Hydro Hotel and had
Turkish and plunge baths, with all guest rooms having hot and cold running water and either gas or coal fires. The hotel also boasted conservatories, a sun lounge and a ballroom that had a theatre stage and resident dance hostesses. ==World War II==