London Guide - Brown's Hotel , London's Oldest Hotel.
EducationLondon Guide - Brown's Hotel , London's Oldest Hotel.
Brown's Hotel opened it's doors to paying guests in 1837 and was the first five star, luxury hotel in London, and remains to this day, London's oldest five star establishment.
The hotel takes it's name from it's original owners James and Sarah Brown, who had been the butler and maid to poet Lord Byron ( George Gordon Byron 1788 - 1824 ), who owned the hotel between the years of 1837 - 1859 exclusively for the use of the London elite.
Since then the hotel has had many owners and seen the patronage of many famous guests, which has led to the hotel having a most extrordinary history.
HOTEL'S HISTORIC GUESTS
In 1871 the hotel was the home of Napoleon III and his wife the Empress Eugenie, during their exile in London.
In 1876 the hotel became the venue for the first ever phone call, when Alexander Graham Bell called car manufacturer Henry Ford at his residence at Ravensthorpe Park, London.
In 1890 the hotel was used as the venue for Lord Kelvin's, Niagara Commission, a meeting which led to the use of water as a source to power electricity.
In 1892 the hotel was the honeymoon destination of author and poet Rudyard Kipling and his American wife Carrie Ballestier. It is also said that Kipling completed his world famous story collection, The Jungle Book whilst staying at the hotel during a previous visit.
In 1905 Brown's became the location of former U.S president, Theodore Roosevelt's last night as a single man, before marrying Edith Kermit Carow.
From the years 1914 - 1918 the hotel became the refuge for the Belgian Queen Elisabeth and other members of the Belgian Royal Family.
In 1924 the hotel became the Official Court to the Hellenic Royal Family of Greece, and remained so for 12 years, after King George of Hellenes remained in exile at the hotel until 1936.
In 1936 the hotel became the home of Ethiopian President, Haile Selassi, after he took refuge in London during the Italian invasion of his country.
In 1939 the hotel once again became a home to yet another royal, when King Zog of Albania took refuge in London after his country had been invaded.
During 1941 the exiled Dutch Government used the hotel as their base when it declared war on Japan.
Owing to whom it's original owners were, the hotel has seen the patronage of many of the world's literary greats over the years and is mentioned in Eleanor Roosevelt's book The Lady of the White House and is the setting for the 1964 Agatha Christie thriller, At Bertram's Hotel.
Today the hotel is owned by the Rocco Forte Hotel Group, which took it over and performed a major revamp to the building in 2003.
Today the hotel's 117 rooms and 29 suites, which were originally 11 Georgian townhouses, have all been individually and luxuriously decorated by designer Olga Polizzi - sister of Rocco Forte - who has cleverly merged modern, contempory features with the hotel's original Edwardian and Victorian furnishings and fittings.
Other amenities at the hotel include a 70 square metre gym and spa, complete with Reiki and Thai Massage treatment rooms, The Albemarle a La carte Restaurant which serves both English and Continental cuisine, Brown's Tea Rooms, which serves the hotel's world famous signature dish, the Afternoon Tea, which has been a tradition of the hotel since it's opening in 1837, and the Donovan Bar, which has been turned into a tribute room to the works of British photographer Helmut Newton. The bar is lined with several of his iconic prints, including an area known as the Naughty Corner, which sports several pornographic and nude prints.
The bar serves over 60 different cocktails and 30 different fine wines and champagnes.
Other classic features of the hotel include antique objet d'art and books in all rooms and original English paintings hung in public areas.
Suites include feature fireplaces in bedrooms, T.Vs in the bathrooms and triple glazed windows.
The hotel offers 24 hour room service and twice daily maid service as standard.
Another nice feature of the hotel is the Children's Programme, which includes toys, gifts and a bedtime milk and biscuit, room delivery service.
ADDRESS - 33 Albemarle Street, City of Westminster.
POST CODE - WI5 4BP.
TEL - 020 7493 6020.
WEBSITE - www.brownshotel.com/
NEAREST TUBE - Green Park.
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