History of....

London Hotels
Top London hotels from the grand and the traditional to the hip and funk.

1) Browns...33 Albermarle Street, Mayfair, London W1 (020 7493 6020) www.roccofortehotels.com ....(Leading Hotels of the World)

.....First opened its doors in 1837 when James Brown, Lord Byron's butler , bought four adjacent houses to create a hotel for visiting gentry;
Where Alexander Graham Bell made his first telephone call in 1876;
Where the Roosevelts honeymooned in 1905 and;
Where Rudyard Kipling wrote The Jungle Book, and also
Agatha Christie used Browns as a model for her novel At Bertrams Hotel....

Historical and Traditional..now a Rocco Forte(others include Hotel Savoy in Florence, and the Hotel Astoria in St Petersburg)...Browns...redesigned by sister to Sir Rocco, Olga Polizzi (who also owns London -weekenders' favourite Hotel Tresanton in Cornwall and the recently opened Endsleigh House in Devon 01822-870 248, Grd 1 listed building converted to a 15 room hotel by Olga ) has kept many of its original features:

The black and white flagstones in reception have been replaced by grey mosaic flooring while the leather reception and concierge desks have been designed by Bill Amberg.

The restaurant, The Grill, still has the warm wood panelling, 1930's lanterns and striking stucco ceiling but, instead of dark red chairs the mood has been lifted by fresh moss-green leather banquettes.

The reception rooms have Neisha Crossland wallpaper but the stunning staiuned glass windows up the stairs are original, as is the giant gilt mirror in the Roosevelt room. Its stylish and luxurious, but is also eclectic and surprising.

The Donovan Bar is decorated with Donovan's photographs, with the signature cocktail the Box Brownie, a mix of raspberry purée, Stoli Razberi and Aperol topped with champagne.Some things dont change....the Hotels famous afternoon tea ... something llike £27.50 per person.

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2) The Savoy, Strand, London WC2 (020 7863 4343)
www.fairmont.com/savoy

Richard D'oyly Carte built the Savoy, which opened in 1889, on the Strand to host the audience after shows in The Savoy Theatre. He later persuaded the hotelier Cesar Ritz from Paris to manage the hotel, who later went on to open The Ritz. The Savoy Grill soon became known as the place to dine for critics and stars of London's glittering theatre scene.

George Gershwin gave the first perfiormance of Rhapsody in Blue in the ballroom in 1925

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3) The Ritz, 150 Picadilly, London W1 (020 7493 8181)
www.theritzlondon.com.....(Leading Hotels of the World)

... Also another afternoon tea institution, where you have to book three to four months in advance for a weekend reservation, and three to four weeks in advance for tea during the week. The Ritz, the epitome of ornate grandeur, where the history hangs as heavy the drapes, is one of London's grand hotels along with The Savoy, The Connaught, and Claridges.
The Ritz is a relative whippersnapper, dating back to 1906: centenary celebrations are being planned for next year.The arcchitecture is mock French-chateau in style, the furnishings, dripping gilt lavish Louis XVI


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4) The Connaught, Carlos Place, Mayfair, London W1 ( 020 7499 70700 )
www.connaught.co.uk

With Royal connections- was named after Queen Victoria's son, Prince Arthur, the first Duke of Connaught in 1917. The hotel dates back to the beginning of the 19th centuryand was rebuilt in the 1890's. Called The Coburg Hotel it reopened in 1897so named after Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg. It was renamed during the First World War.

It is still one of the most distinguished residences in London with its wide mahogany staircase, antique furniture and genteel atmoshere.Now even more prestigious as Gordon Ramsay has put his name to the restored Grill Room and Restaurant, run by his protégée, Angela Hartnett.

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5) Claridges, Brook Street, Mayfair, London W1 (020 7629 8860)
www.claridges.co.uk

....Grand, Historical, Traditional.with Royal connections- Opened a hundred years prior to the Connaught in 1812. Hosted Queen Victoria and Prince Albert during a visit to Empress Eugenie of F rance, who had made the hotel her winter retreat in 1860. After the First World Warmany British Aristocrats chose Claridge's as their pied-a- terre

At the end of tbe Second World War Sir Winston Churchill made it possible for Crown Peince Alexander of Yugoslavia to be born in Suite 212 in July 1945 on Yugoslav soil.Claridges wea redesigned in in the early Thirties, half of the 203 rooms are art deco, the rest Victorian. Claridge's bar is, today, one of London's hip hangouts with cocktails here the precursor to dinner at "Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's"

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6)The Cadogan., 75 Sloane Street London W1 (020 7295 7141)
www.cadogan.com.(Leading Hotels of the World)

London has a springkling of sumptuous townhouse hotels, and The Cadogan is one of the glamorous landmark hotels in Knightsbridge, and has a star-studded past.This Edwardian townhouse dates back to 1887. It was once home to the actress and mistress, Lillie Langtry, while Oscar Wilde was was famously in room 118 in 1895.

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7) Hazlitt's, 6 Frith Street, Soho, London W1 (020 7434 1771)
Hazlitts www.hazlittshotel.com

...With Literary connections. Hazlitt's is named after the essayist who once lived here. Charmingly quirkty rooms filled with antiques, most of which are named after Hazlitt's friends and ladies .

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8) The Colonnade, 2 WarringtonCrescent, Little Venice, London W9 (020 7286 1052) ...www.theetoncollection.com

...more history and culture... situated in Little Venice...more (mini-chain the Eton Collection. It was created from two Victorian Mansions and played host to JFK in 1962, while Sigmund Freud stayed here in 1938- both have a suite named after them.

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9) Blakes, 33 Roland Gardens, London SW7 (020 7370 6701)
.www.blakeshotel.com

One of the original Boutique hotels of London,opened in the early Eighties and was designed by Anouska Hempel.Conjuring up images of the Orient (check out the dimly Opium Room for cocktails), the decor is dramatic, dark and decadent. Bedrooms, or rather boudoirs, are sumptuous and decked out in exoticsilks and antique travelling trunks, or white gossamer nets and mother-of-pearl furniture in French Provencal style. Despite all the pretenders, Blakes is still the original boutique hotel.

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10) The Hempel 3-35 Craven Hill Gardens, London W2 (020 7298 9000)
www.thehempel.co.uk

Another of Anouska Hempel's creations- ashrine to aesthetic minimalism. Think stark decor or simple lines depending upon your perspective, the palette white on white. There's even a suspended bed in one room, while oxygen in a can in the mini bar is the signature gimmick.

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11) The Halkin, Halkin Street London SW1 (020 7333 1000)
www.halkin.co.uk
....part of the Como Hotel Group.....(Leading Hotels of the World) ...has won the Visit London's award for Best Small Hotel 2005. The facade might be Georgian but inside this understated hotel, with just 41 rooms, is conteporary and chic. Each floor has a different inspiration: water, earth, air, fire and sky, while Italian designer Edith Leschke has used a palette of soft taupes, beiges and creams.

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12) The Great Eastern Hotel, Liverpool Street, London EC2 (020 7618 5000)
www great-eastern-hotel.co.uk

An edgier-Conran designed hotel just round the corner from Liverpool Street, a revamped railway hotel with choclate shagpile in the rooms, art insallations in the lobby and a restaurant with a stained-glass dome.

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13) The Zetter, 86-88 Clerkenwell Road, London EC1 (020 7324 4444)...www.thezetter.com

...hip...right in Clerkenwell is housed in an old five-story warehouse and is the brainchild of restaurateurs Mark Sainsbury and Michael Benyan. Their aim was to create a hotal and restaurant for those looking for comfort and style without that hefty London price tag. Rooms start at a very reasonable £140. A spiral staircase leads up through the five story atrium to the hotel's 59 bedrooms, which retain many of the building's original 19th century features. These are counterbalanced by quirky touches created by young designers and artists including floral wallpaper panels and eclectic ceramics and furniture.

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14}Malmaison, Charterhouse Square, London EC1 (020 7012 3700)
www.malaison.co.uk

London branch of this chic mini chain is a Victorian brick building in an ex nurse's residence of St. Bartholemew's Hospital..

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15) Threadneedles, 5 Threaneedle Street, London EC2 (020 7657 8080)
www.theetoncollection.com

Threadneedles is a converted bank dating back to 1856. Now a boutique hotel with 70 rooms and a suite overlooking St Paul's cathederal, the original stained-glass dome soars over the reception.

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16) The Sanderson, (Morgans Hotel Group), 59 Berners Street, London W1 (020 7300 1400)
www.sandersonlondon.com

Originally the products of Ian Schrager and Phillpie (Starck St Martins Lane-and The Sanderson}...darling of the media whem this hotel first opened in 2000. It is an ugly Fifties office block on the outside, but inside it's a witty, modern, sexy dreamscape themed 'urban spa' dotted with eclectic pieces such as the red 'lips' sofa.
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17) St Martins Lane (Morgans Hotel Group), 45 St Martin's Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2, (020 7300 5500) www.stmartinslane.com

A theatrical spectacle, juxtaposing the modern with the Baroque. In the lobby there are giant chess pieces, molar-teeth stools ans gilt chair
scatterd across a clean open space. In the rooms interactive light diplays allow you to create your own mood..

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18) Charlotte Street Hotel (Firmdale Group) 15-17 Charlotte Street London W1 (020 7806 2000) www.firmdale.co.uk

The lobby at Charlotte Street Hotel is hung with 20th -century art including two Roger Cecil abstracts; in the two drawing rooms are works by
Bloomsbury artists such as Vanessa Ball; on the wall of the restaurant, Oscar is a mural of contemporary London Life by Alexander Hollweg. In the heart
of London's entertainment district, there are handy privste screening rooms at The Charlotte Street Hotel, the Soho Hotel and the Covent Garden Hotel. .

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19) Covent Garden Hotel, 10 Monmouth Street London W1 (020 7806 1000)-(Firmdale Hotel Group) www.firmdale.co.uk , also The Pelham Hotel, Knightsbridge Hotel, and Number 16.

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20) The Metropolitan London, Old Park Lane, London W1 (020-7447 1000) www.metropolitan.co.uk.....part of the Como Hotel Group....Designer, Christina Ong / Michelin starred NOBU rest.
Christina Ong gave the capital its first real introduction to pared down contemporary style and muted colours-copied by so many poor imitators over the last decade when she opened The Metopolitan on Park Lane. Its home to the continuously fashionable Met Bar and Michelin-starred Japanese restaurant Nobu. The staff uniforms were designed by Giorgio Armani.Rooms are sixties urban living style in soft mauves, cream and beige with floor-too-ceiling windows looking out over Hyde Park.

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21)The Soho Hotel, 4 Richmond Mews London W1 (020 7559 3000) (Firmdale Group) www.firmdale.co.uk
Log burning fireplaces in the two drawing rooms, and a 10 foot high bronze cat in the lobby. The rooms are all individually designed in a contemporary English style - think pastels and florals but no chintz..

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21a) The Haymarket (Firmdale Hotel Group) www.firmdale.co.uk ...coming Sept 2006.....top London Designer hotels

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22 )My Hotel, Bloomsbury,11-13 Bayley Street London WC1 (020 7667 6000) www.myhotels.com.... London being one of the most expensive cities to visit, it is still possible to find afordable options in the heart of the capital. The Bloomsbury and the Chelsea

23) My Hotel, Chelsea, 35 Ixworth Place London SW3 (020 7225 7000)...both good value for central London

24) Travel Inn... in the old County Hall right next to the London Eye which has rooms from £86.95 excluding bed breakfast.

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25)The Portobello...eccentric..the best bath room116..Legend has it that Johnny Depp filled the Victorian Bath in room 116 of this eccentric bolthole with champagne for Kate Moss!!

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26)The Mandarin Oriental 66 Knightsbridge london Sw1.....(Leading Hotels of the World).. .best Oriental Spa in London.You book time rather than treatmenmts at The Mandarin Oriental's spa. Rituals are based on ancient Eastern Therapies.

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27)One Aldwych...1 Aldwych London WC2 (Leading Hotels of the World)...Best urban pool in London. One of the things that makes this stylish designer hotel stand out is the spectacular pool which comes with soothing underwater music.

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28) Threadneedles, 5 Threadneedle Street, London EC2 9020 7657 8080)...www.theetoncollection.com

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More hotels of the Como Group
www.shambhala.como.biz
www.como.biz

Parrot Cay-Turks ans Caicos Islands
Metropolitan-Bangkok
Begawan Giri-Bali
Uma Ubud-Bali
Cocoa Island-Bali
Uma Paro-Bhutan