Brown's Hotel
Encyclopedia
Brown's Hotel is a luxury 5-star hotel
in London
, United Kingdom
. Opening its doors in 1837, it has been owned by The Rocco Forte Collection
since 3 July 2003 and is a member of The Leading Hotels of the World
.
Brown's Hotel is set in the heart of Mayfair
on Albemarle Street
. It is located within walking distance of shopping streets such as Bond Street and Regent Street in addition to theatres, art galleries and central London landmarks. It also sits on the doorstep of Green Park and Hyde Park.
In 1889, Brown's Hotel purchased St George's Hotel in Albemarle Street, which backed on to Brown's, and combined the two hotels, adding a fifth floor to both properties. On Albemarle Street, a new front of stucco and entrance portico were built, and two panels of blue and gold mosaic bearing the legend of Brown's and St George's were placed on the wall (both still exist today).
The hotel has hosted some notable people. Alexander Graham Bell
went to stay in 1876 to demonstrate his new invention - the telephone
- and the first successful telephone call in Great Britain
was made from Brown's in 1876. The Niagara Room commemorates the meeting held there in 1890 by the International Niagara Commission, which agreed on 'the adoption of electrical methods as the chief means of distributing Niagara power'; the inauguration of the alternating current system resulted and has subsequently been adopted throughout the world.
In 1886, Theodore Roosevelt
stayed at Brown's prior to his second marriage. Royal guests have included Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie
in 1871, Elizabeth, Queen of the Belgians
(who took refuge in the hotel during World War I), Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia
and George II, King of the Hellenes
, who stayed at Brown's for nine years after his exile from Greece in 1924.
Other notable people who have stayed at Brown's include Cecil Rhodes, founder of Rhodesia, Rudyard Kipling
(who completed The Jungle Book
there) and Agatha Christie
, who based her 1965 thriller At Bertram's Hotel
on Brown's. Historian John Lothrop Motley
stayed at the hotel in 1874, as shown in a letter he wrote on the 17th of June of that year, to Dutch historian Groen van Prinsterer. Celebrated Victorian writers Oscar Wilde
, Arthur Conan Doyle
, Robert Louis Stevenson
, JM Barrie and Bram Stoker
were also all regular visitors .
The hotel became part of the Rocco Forte collection of luxury hotels on 3 July 2003, having once been managed by Raffles International Hotels. During 2004-2005 the hotel underwent a £24 million refurbishment and re-opened in December 2005.
The hotel has several restaurants and bars including The Albemarle (formerly the Grill), an informal A La Carte restaurant which serves both English and continental cuisine, the Brown’s English Tea Room which has served afternoon tea and light snacks since the mid nineteenth century and the The Donovan Bar, which pays homage to the German-Australian photographer Helmut Newton
with his iconic prints. The bar is furnished with wooden floors, black leather seating and dark country check banquettes. In one corner are pornographic photographs and a table for 12. The bar serves over sixty cocktails and thirty wines and champagnes.
The hotel also has 6 conference rooms, serving up to 120 people.
Top 10 UK Leisure Hotels in Condé Nast 2009 Reader’s Travel Awards.
UK Best Hotels for Ambience & Design in Condé Nast Traveller Gold List 2010
Best Hotels 2010 in National Geographic Traveler USA
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Opening its doors in 1837, it has been owned by The Rocco Forte Collection
The Rocco Forte Collection
The Rocco Forte Collection is a family of 13 hotels and resorts across Europe.As brand of Rocco Forte & Family PLC, the company owns and part-owns luxury five-star hotels...
since 3 July 2003 and is a member of The Leading Hotels of the World
The Leading Hotels of the World
The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. is a hospitality consortium owned by Hotel Representative, A.G. It represents over 430 hotels and resorts worldwide. Headquartered in New York City, the consortium maintains offices in 24 cities world wide....
.
Brown's Hotel is set in the heart of Mayfair
Mayfair
Mayfair is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster.-History:Mayfair is named after the annual fortnight-long May Fair that took place on the site that is Shepherd Market today...
on Albemarle Street
Albemarle Street
Albemarle Street is a street in Mayfair in central London, off Piccadilly. It has historic associations with Lord Byron, whose publisher John Murray was based here, and Oscar Wilde, a member of the Albemarle Club, where an insult he received led to his suing for libel and to his eventual imprisonment...
. It is located within walking distance of shopping streets such as Bond Street and Regent Street in addition to theatres, art galleries and central London landmarks. It also sits on the doorstep of Green Park and Hyde Park.
History
Brown's Hotel was founded in 1837, by James and Sarah Brown.In 1889, Brown's Hotel purchased St George's Hotel in Albemarle Street, which backed on to Brown's, and combined the two hotels, adding a fifth floor to both properties. On Albemarle Street, a new front of stucco and entrance portico were built, and two panels of blue and gold mosaic bearing the legend of Brown's and St George's were placed on the wall (both still exist today).
The hotel has hosted some notable people. Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell was an eminent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone....
went to stay in 1876 to demonstrate his new invention - the telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
- and the first successful telephone call in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
was made from Brown's in 1876. The Niagara Room commemorates the meeting held there in 1890 by the International Niagara Commission, which agreed on 'the adoption of electrical methods as the chief means of distributing Niagara power'; the inauguration of the alternating current system resulted and has subsequently been adopted throughout the world.
In 1886, Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
stayed at Brown's prior to his second marriage. Royal guests have included Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie
Eugénie de Montijo
Doña María Eugenia Ignacia Augustina de Palafox-Portocarrero de Guzmán y Kirkpatrick, 16th Countess of Teba and 15th Marquise of Ardales; 5 May 1826 – 11 July 1920), known as Eugénie de Montijo , was the last Empress consort of the French from 1853 to 1871 as the wife of Napoleon III, Emperor of...
in 1871, Elizabeth, Queen of the Belgians
Elisabeth of Bavaria (1876-1965)
Elisabeth of Bavaria , was the queen consort of Albert I of Belgium and was the mother of Leopold III of Belgium and grandmother of Baudouin I of Belgium and Albert II of Belgium.-Family:Born in Possenhofen Castle, her father was Karl-Theodor, Duke in Bavaria, an ophthalmologist of...
(who took refuge in the hotel during World War I), Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia
Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia
Haile Selassie I , born Tafari Makonnen, was Ethiopia's regent from 1916 to 1930 and Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974...
and George II, King of the Hellenes
George II of Greece
George II reigned as King of Greece from 1922 to 1924 and from 1935 to 1947.-Early life, first period of kingship and exile:George was born at the royal villa at Tatoi, near Athens, the eldest son of King Constantine I of Greece and his wife, Princess Sophia of Prussia...
, who stayed at Brown's for nine years after his exile from Greece in 1924.
Other notable people who have stayed at Brown's include Cecil Rhodes, founder of Rhodesia, Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
(who completed The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book is a collection of stories by British Nobel laureate Rudyard Kipling. The stories were first published in magazines in 1893–4. The original publications contain illustrations, some by Rudyard's father, John Lockwood Kipling. Kipling was born in India and spent the first six...
there) and Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
, who based her 1965 thriller At Bertram's Hotel
At Bertram's Hotel
At Bertram's Hotel is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 15 November 1965 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at sixteen shillings and the US edition at $4.50...
on Brown's. Historian John Lothrop Motley
John Lothrop Motley
John Lothrop Motley was an American historian and diplomat.-Biography:...
stayed at the hotel in 1874, as shown in a letter he wrote on the 17th of June of that year, to Dutch historian Groen van Prinsterer. Celebrated Victorian writers Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
, Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
, Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
, JM Barrie and Bram Stoker
Bram Stoker
Abraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula...
were also all regular visitors .
The hotel became part of the Rocco Forte collection of luxury hotels on 3 July 2003, having once been managed by Raffles International Hotels. During 2004-2005 the hotel underwent a £24 million refurbishment and re-opened in December 2005.
Interior
The Brown's Hotel is noted for its traditional English Victorian sophistication fused with a contemporary feel. The bedrooms are designed by Olga Polizzi and combine modern features with traditional furnishing and are all individually decorated. The standard rooms are 32 to 40 square metres in size with the suites being 50 to 95 square metres.The hotel has several restaurants and bars including The Albemarle (formerly the Grill), an informal A La Carte restaurant which serves both English and continental cuisine, the Brown’s English Tea Room which has served afternoon tea and light snacks since the mid nineteenth century and the The Donovan Bar, which pays homage to the German-Australian photographer Helmut Newton
Helmut Newton
Helmut Newton, born Helmut Neustädter was a German-Australian photographer. He was a "prolific, widely imitated fashion photographer whose provocative, erotically charged black-and-white photos were a mainstay of Vogue and other publications."-Early life:Newton was born in Berlin, the son of Klara...
with his iconic prints. The bar is furnished with wooden floors, black leather seating and dark country check banquettes. In one corner are pornographic photographs and a table for 12. The bar serves over sixty cocktails and thirty wines and champagnes.
The hotel also has 6 conference rooms, serving up to 120 people.
Awards
Brown’s Hotel has received a wide range of awards and accolades including:Top 10 UK Leisure Hotels in Condé Nast 2009 Reader’s Travel Awards.
UK Best Hotels for Ambience & Design in Condé Nast Traveller Gold List 2010
Best Hotels 2010 in National Geographic Traveler USA