It has been through many incarnations since then, having been used in part by the Army during the Second World War, and the BBC in the ensuing period, standing as it does opposite to Broadcasting House. The Hotel also has a rich literary history, having been the venue for an 1889 meeting between Oscar Wilde, Arthur Conan Doyle and Joseph Marshall Stoddart.
The 1980s were also a turbulent period, with the BBC trying to demolish the hotel to build offices, and the Ladbroke Group and Hilton group gaining ownership. Things only really started to settle down when Hong Kong based Langham Hotels International took control and undertook at £80m refurbishment, completed in April 2009. Nowadays, it hosts occasional visits from the likes of The Winehouse, who has apparently been known to stay when her boiler is broken.
The reconfigured Langham now has 380 rooms, centred around the Palm Court which has been serving afternoon tea since 1865. For more on the hotel, see http://london.langhamhotels.co.uk/en/ or for some pictures of the hotel, see here.
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I’ve not stayed at the Langham, but I did go to a particularly good book launch at the newly refurbished Artesian Bar on its ground floor last year. Very opulent...
ReplyDeleteI haven't stayed there either Chaz, but I had a very nice tour.
ReplyDeleteThe Artesian bar is nice.
The Langam has a fantastic location and after recent refurbishment is well placed to take advantage of the improving fortunes for London hotels. Lodon hoteliers are lucky that there is always demand from either business or holiday travellers, even in a global recession like this one.
ReplyDeleteUm, right sinxia, are you some sort of hotel spin machine?
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