Famous Hotels in London

London is a global phenomenon and has been since the days when the British Empire first spread its influence over the World. Be it a World War or a celebrity scandal London many of the famous London hotels have played staged to historic goings on.

From being meeting points for dignitaries, royals and celebrities alike there are hotels in London nearly as famous as London itself.

Famous Hotels in London

Within London the most famous hotels are the ones that reflect British tradition. It is always nice spending a night in a famous hotel steeped in history, and as these hotels are some of the best in London with a plethora of famous guests potentially staying you will never know who you might bump into; unless of course you indulge and book a stay at one of these famous hotels in London!

CLARIDGES

• Address: Brook Street, Mayfair, London
• Telephone: 020 7629 8860
• Website: www.claridges.co.uk

Claridge’s could be considered London’s most famous hotel mostly due to its extensive connections with Royals around Europe. Not many hotels can claim to be an extension to Buckingham Palace! It is said that during the second World War so many European Royals made the hotel their safe harbour than when the concierge was asked where the king was he simply answered, “which one?”; a couple of years before this Princess Eugenie of France made Claridge’s her winter home in London which ultimately resulted in Victoria and Albert dropping by on the odd occasion. More recently the hotel has been the London hangout for Hollywood royalty such as Audrey and Katharine Hepburn, Carrey Grant, Brad Pitt, Mick Jagger and Mariah Carey just to name a few.

THE RITZ

• Address: 150 Piccadilly, London
• Telephone: 020 7493 8181
• Website: www.theritzlondon.com

The Ritz is not only famous because of its well known French sister hotel in Paris or the fact that world renowned hotelier Cesar Ritz and chef king Auguste Escoffier were at its helm in the beginning; it is ‘tea at the Ritz’ that has made this hotel particularly well known. For decades heads of state, royals, celebrities and socialites have enjoyed their high tea in the famous Palm Court area of the court. A particularly interesting part of The Ritz’s history was during the Second World War Winston Churchill, Charles De Gaulle and Dwight Eisenhower chose The Ritz as their meeting place to discuss the fraught world affairs. Staying and dining at the Ritz is an opulent affair with nothing less than the most glamorous folk in town completely at home in it luxurious rooms.

BROWN’S HOTEL

• Address: 33 Albermarle Street, London
• Telephone: 020 7493 6020
• Website: www.brownshotel.com

A magnificent British hotel Rocco Forte’s Brown’s Hotel is famous for a number of different reasons; mostly due to being the birthplace of Mowgli from the Jungle Book, it was in Brown’s Hotel that famous write Rudyard Kipling wrote is internationally renowned novel, The Jungle Book. It is also famous for hosting the first phone call when Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated his invention as well as being a personal favourite of Winston Churchill who spent a lot of time here. Although it is not as well known as somewhere like The Ritz, Brown’s Hotel is no less significant and has played it own role in British history hosting distinguished guests for over a century!

THE SAVOY

• Address: Strand, London
• Telephone: 020 7836 4343
• Website: http://www.fairmont.com/savoy

Since opening in 1889 The Savoy has become one of the most celebrated hotels in the world, known for its ground breaking history being not only the first hotel to have electricity and elevators but also more recently the first hotel to reinvent itself into a completely ‘Green’ hotel. It is also the oldest luxury hotel in London.

The Savoy has established a reputation for impeccable service having been originally managed by Cesar Ritz and also a celebrated culinary tradition with The River Restaurant as the playground of Auguste Escoffier introducing the British population to a more refined world of cuisine. The Savoy was the pioneer of a more luxurious dining experience. The Savoy is most well known to be the original hotel  to serve the classic “Afternoon tea”, it has always been associated as ‘a High society adventure park, disguised as a hotel’.

It was in The Savoy that Winston Churchill created the other club, a gathering of some of the country’s most distinguished individuals, mostly those involved in politics, a meeting place outside of the House of Commons.

As the traditional playground of mixed political parties, The Grill is nicknamed ‘the second House of Lords.’ In the 1960s, the maître d’hôtel used to ring a bell when the members of parliament had to go back to vote. The Grill is closed in August, when parliament has its summer break.

THE LANGHAM HOTEL

• Address: 1c Portland Place, Regent Street, London
• Telephone:  020 7636 1000
• Website: http://london.langhamhotels.co.uk

In Victorian times, to stay at the Langham was a mark of having arrived in the social world; apparently if you had rooms at the Langham you must be a gentleman or a privileged individual in fact Emperor Louis Napoleon III spent much of his last enforced exile from France at the Langham. The Langham’s fate was sealed when it was immortalized  by Conan Doyle using it as the setting for several Sherlock Holmes stories, including “A Scandal in Bohemia” published in 1889. In the book, the central character Count Von Kramm, was asked by Sherlock Holmes where he was staying, and the Count informs him, “you will find me at The Langham, under the name of the Count Von Kramm”.

There you have it, some hotels are famous for the famous faces that stay there whilst others just have magnificent histories, being the first to do something or other; all in all London is full of famous hotels, it’s always worth it during a visit in London to go and hear some of these hotels legends passed down throughout the last century by staff.

If you are looking to save money on your accommodation you may think about choosing a London hostel in preference to a famous hotel.

There are plenty of great London hostels which offer comfortable accommodation in the centre of London at a significantly lower price than a hotel leaving you more money for shopping, restaurants and nightclubs.