This article describes the hotels in London, England. Hotels are an important part of London's tourism industry.
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Before the 19th century there were few if any large hotels in London. British country landowners often lived in London for part of the year but they usually rented a house, if they did not own one, rather than staying in a hotel. Numbers of business and foreign visitors were very small by modern standards. The accommodation available to them included Gentlemen's club accommodations, lodging houses and coaching inns. Lodging houses were more like private homes with rooms to let than commercial hotels, and were often run by widows. Coaching inns served passengers from the stage coaches which were the main means of long-distance passenger transport before railways began to develop in the 1830s. The last surviving galleried coaching inn in London is the George Inn which now belongs to the National Trust.
A few hotels of a more modern variety began to be built in the early 19th century. For example Mivart's, the precursor of Claridge's, opened its doors in 1812 but, up to the mid-19th century, London hotels were generally small. In his travel book North America (1862), the novelist Anthony Trollope remarked on how much larger American hotels were than British ones. But by this time the railways had already begun to bring far more short-term visitors to London, and the railway companies themselves took the lead in accommodating them by building a series of "railway hotels" near to their London termini. These buildings were seen as status symbols by the railway companies, the largest businesses in the country at the time, and some of them were very grand. They included:
Many other large hotels were built in London in the Victorian period. The Langham Hotel was the largest in the city when it opened in 1865. The Savoy, perhaps London's most famous hotel, opened in 1889, the first London hotel with en-suite bathrooms to every room. Nine years later Claridge's was rebuilt in its current form. Another famous hotel, the Ritz, based on its even more celebrated namesake in Paris, opened in 1906.
The upper end of the London hotel business continued to flourish between the two World Wars, boosted by the fact that many landowning families could no longer afford to maintain a London house and therefore began to stay at hotels instead, and by an increasing number of foreign visitors, especially Americans. Famous hotels which opened their doors in this era include the Grosvenor House Hotel and the Dorchester.
The rate of hotel construction in London was fairly low in the quarter century after World War II and the famous old names retained their dominance of the top end of the market. The most notable hotel of this era was probably The London Hilton on Park Lane, a controversial concrete tower overlooking Hyde Park. Advances in air travel increased the number of overseas visitors to London from 1.6 million in 1963 to 6 million in 1974. In order to provide hotels to meet the extra demand a Hotel Development Incentive Scheme was introduced and a building boom ensued. This led to overcapacity in the London hotel market from the late 1970s to the mid 1980s. Construction then picked up again, but it was soon curtailed by the recession of the early 1990s and the reduction in international travel caused by the 1991 Gulf War.
The 1980s saw London (along with New York) start the trend of smaller boutique-style hotels. In the mid-1990s there was a major proliferation of new hotels being opened, including hotels of many different types from country-house-style hotels in Victorian houses to ultra-trendy minimalist premises. At this time some of London's grandest early-20th-century office buildings were converted into hotels because their layouts, with long corridors and numerous separate offices, were incompatible with the preference for open-plan working, but their listed status made it hard to get permission to demolish them. This period also saw the opening of the first five-star hotel in London south of the River Thames, the Marriott County Hall Hotel, and the first two in East London, the Four Seasons Canary Wharf and the Marriott West India Quay, which is also close to the Canary Wharf development. For many years there were no hotels at all in the City of London even though the financial firms of the City were one of the London hotel sector's most lucrative sources of custom. But in recent years over a thousand hotel rooms have opened in the City. Budget hotel chains such as Travel Inn and Travelodge have also been expanding rapidly in London since the mid-1990s.
One of the most expensive hotels in London is The Lanesborough. Originally a private address (Lanesborough House) in 1733 it was converted into St George's Hospital and began life as a hotel in 1991.
There is no official registry of hotel rooms in London, but the estimated number of hotel rooms in Greater London in 2000 was put at 101,269.[1] According to figures produced in support of London's 2012 Olympic bid, there were more than 70,000 three to five star hotel rooms within 10 kilometres of Central London in 2003. Interestingly the main growth was a huge rise in the number of rooms within the City of London, while Kensington and Chelsea actually had a small fall. This is comparing figures since 1981. The main concentration of luxury hotels is in the West End, especially in Mayfair. London's five star hotels are quite small on average by international standards. The largest has only 494 rooms and nine of them have fifty or fewer. The range is very wide, including:
Currently the most profitable hotels and those with the most consistently high room occupancies are hotels around the 5 major London airports. Heathrow and Gatwick are performing the best and becoming meeting and conference centres in their own right.
2006 was the year that environmentally friendly hotels started to become a marketing tool. Among the first to achieve certified levels were the Novotel London West and all the Marriott properties in the capital.
By the end of 2006 the boom in branded hotels which started around 2002 was well under way, with branded rooms accounting for around 70% of available accommodation at 71,000 rooms.
2007 saw the start of a building boom for purpose built hotels in the lead-up to the 2012 Olympic games in east London. Hotels are planned throughout London including at the new Wembley Stadium and around Docklands area. Many of these will be in the 4 and 5 star bracket supplementing the 2/3 star boom already ongoing with the likes of Ibis and Premier Travel Inn.
There are no official bodies that rate hotels. Most widely accepted bodies are the AA [2] (in the past the RAC too) and the English Tourist Board. The ETB have recently changed their criteria to match that of the AA to provide consistency. Many hotels remain self rated. [3]
| Hotel | Location | Rooms | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 Jermyn Street | St. James's | 22 | townhouse hotel; owned by Togna family since 1915 |
| 41 Hotel | Westminster | 20 | boutique hotel |
| 45 Park Lane | Mayfair | 46 | Sister hotel to The Dorchester due to open in 2011 |
| Andaz Liverpool Street | City of London | 267 | Victorian railway hotel built as Great Eastern Hotel; reopened 2000 |
| The Athenaeum Hotel and Apartments | Mayfair | 123 | modern |
| Baglioni Hotel | South Kensington | 67 | occupies a group of Victorian houses |
| The Bentley London | South Kensington | 64 | occupies Victorian buildings |
| The Berkeley | Belgravia | 214 | modern building; opened 1972. Roof top pool. |
| Blakes Hotel | South Kensington | 51 | occupies a group of Victorian houses |
| Brown's Hotel | Mayfair | 117 | occupies eleven townhouses |
| Capital Hotel | Knightsbridge | 49 | modern |
| Carlton Tower Hotel | Knightsbridge | 220 | modern |
| Chancery Court Hotel | Holborn | 356 | opened in the 1990s in a grand 1914 office building |
| Charlotte Street Hotel | Fitzrovia | 52 | |
| Churchill Hotel | Marylebone | 445 | modern |
| Claridge's | Mayfair | 203 | London's most aristocratic hotel; founded 1812 and rebuilt 1898 Art Deco. |
| The Connaught | Mayfair | 121 | traditional grand hotel |
| Courthouse Hotel | Soho | 116 | occupies a classical former magistrates court |
| Covent Garden Hotel | Covent Garden | 58 | English country house style |
| Dorchester Hotel | Mayfair | 238 | opened 1931; art deco exterior and "Georgian country house" rooms |
| Draycott Hotel | Chelsea | 35 | occupies three 1890s houses |
| Four Seasons Hotel London at Canary Wharf | Canary Wharf | 142 | opened c. 2001 |
| Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane | Mayfair | 220 | built in 1970 as the Inn on the Park |
| Franklin Hotel | Knightsbridge | 50 | opened 1992 in four Victorian houses; English country house style |
| Goring Hotel | Victoria | 74 | built 1910; traditional English style |
| Grange City Hotel | City of London | 307 | opened this century, near to Tower of London |
| Grange Holborn Hotel | Holborn | 200 | opened in a new building in the late 1990s |
| Grange St Pauls Hotel | St Pauls | 433 | opened in 2010 |
| Grosvenor House Hotel | Mayfair | 494 | built 1928; most rooms of any central London 5-star hotel |
| Halkin Hotel | Belgravia | 41 | modern |
| Hempel Hotel | Bayswater | 40 | |
| InterContinental London Park Lane Hotel | Mayfair | 447 | modern |
| The Landmark London | Marylebone Road | 299 | Victorian grand hotel; opened in 1899 as a railway hotel |
| Lanesborough Hotel | Knightsbridge | 95 | grand hotel opened in 1991 in converted 19th century hospital. |
| Langham Hotel | Marylebone | 429 | London's largest hotel when it opened in 1865 |
| Le Meridien Hotel Piccadilly | Mayfair | 266 | traditional grand hotel |
| The London Hilton on Park Lane | Mayfair | 450 | modern; London's tallest hotel |
| Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London | Knightsbridge | 200 | |
| Marriott County Hall Hotel | South Bank | 200 | occupies part of the neo-baroque London County Hall. |
| Marriott Grand Residence | Mayfair | 49 | built 1926 |
| Marriott London Grosvenor Square | Mayfair | 221 | early 20th century neo-Georgian |
| Marriott London Park Lane | Mayfair | 157 | built as apartments in 1919 |
| Marriott West India Quay | Canary Wharf | 348 | built 2004; 301 rooms and 47 apartments |
| The May Fair | Mayfair | 406 | eclectic-luxury design |
| Millennium Hotel Mayfair | Mayfair | 348 | early 20th century neo-Georgian |
| Montcalm Nikko | Mayfair | 120 | boutique |
| One Aldwych | The Strand | 105 | early 21st century interiors in an early 20th century neo-baroque office building |
| Park Lane Hotel (Sheraton) | Mayfair | 307 | traditional grand hotel |
| Plaza On The River Club And Residence | Lambeth | 66 | |
| Radisson Edwardian Hampshire Hotel | Leicester Square | 124 | English country house style |
| Radisson Edwardian Heathrow Hotel | Heathrow | 459 | modern |
| Rafayel on the Left Bank | Battersea | 65 | London's first eco-friendly 5-star boutique hotel on the south side of the river next to London heliport; |
| Ritz Hotel | St. James's | 133 | opened 1906; French chateau style building; possibly the most famous hotel in the world and synonymous with Afternoon Tea. |
| Royal Garden Hotel | Kensington | 398 | modern |
| Sanderson Hotel | Fitzrovia | 150 | Ian Schrager minimalist hotel |
| Savoy Hotel | The Strand | 207 | traditional grand hotel; opened 1889 - first in London with en suite bathroom to all rooms. Closed in December 2007 for £100 million refurbishment. Opening 2010. |
| Sloane Hotel | Chelsea | 22 | occupies some Victorian houses |
| Sheraton Park Tower Hotel | Knightsbridge | 181 | modern |
| Sheraton Skyline Hotel at London Heathrow | Heathrow | 350 | Modern Style |
| Sofitel St. James | St. James's | 186 | opened c.2000 in a grand classical former bank headquarters |
| Soho Hotel | Soho | 91 | |
| Stafford Hotel | St. James's | 80 | English country house style |
| St Martins Lane Hotel | Covent Garden | 204 | 1990s Philippe Starck minimalism in a 1960s office block |
| St. Pancras Renaissance | Kings Cross | 245 | The Former Midland Grand Hotel |
| Threadneedles City Boutique Hotel | City of London | 69 | occupies a banking hall built in 1865 |
| Trafalgar Hilton | Trafalgar Square | 129 | opened 2001; contemporary building behind a retained facade |
| Waldorf Hilton | near The Strand | 303 | grand hotel built in 1908; |
| Wyndham Grand Chelsea Harbour | Chelsea | 160 | modern; overlooks the marina at Chelsea Harbour |
After the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot London hotels showed a drop in average room rate growth and occupancy growth. However this was not as steep as might have been expected since figures were compared to the previous years figures which were themselves affected by the July 7th London bombings of 2005. It is thought without those circumstances the real drop would have been something in the region of 20-30%. Strangely while figures showed a drop in bookings some major chains such as Intercontinental reported strong demand for hotel rooms in London as passengers became stranded in London unable to get a flight.[5]
In November 2006, several hotels were subject to checks for radiation after former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned with Polonium-210. Most seriously affected was the Millennium Mayfair where 7 members of staff were found to be contaminated with low level radiation.
November 2006 was also the month Dhiren Barot was sentenced by a British court to serve at least 40 years in prison for planning to cause explosions in London Hotels amongst a list of targets which also included the New York Stock Exchange and the World Bank.
January 2007 saw the first use anywhere in the world of Cryonite technology [6] to kill bed bugs (freezes pests using a patented carbon dioxide snow) at a top London Hotel (un-named).
In February 2010, a murder took place in the Landmark Hotel, one of the most expensive hotels in London.[7]
In March 2007 some of Londons' best known hotels were considered a “serious danger to health” by environmental inspectors. The hotels were the Savoy, the Halkin, the Langham and the Dorchester.[8]
In March 2011, London Hotels were the 8th most expensive in the world. [9]