GROSVENOR REBORN
Grosvenor Reborn - Luxury Travel Magazine
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Grosvenor Reborn | |||||
| By Jenny Caspersonn, Issue 39 – Winter 2010 | |||||
| (Grosvenor House Hotel – London, England) | |||||
| A RECENT £100 MILLION FACELIFT WILL ENSURE THAT GROSVENOR HOUSE REMAINS ONE OF LONDON’S LANDMARK HOTELS. | |||||
| Did you know the Queen can ice skate? It might have been some time since the royal pins glided across the ice, but the story goes that a young Princess Elizabeth learnt to skate on the rink in the Grosvenor House Hotel. This iconic London property is now 80 years old but Grosvenor House’s recent four-year £100 million renovation will ensure it remains a London landmark. With 494 guestrooms and suites the hotel, part of the JW Marriott Group, is the largest five-star hotel in London. Since its opening in May 1929, Grosvenor House has been known for attracting the smart and sophisticated. Capturing the spirit of the decadent Jazz Age it was the only London hotel at the time to have a skating rink. The rink operated until 1938 and the plumbing and apparatus remains underneath what is now the hotel’s famous Great Room. With a capacity of up to 2,000 people, the Great Room, along with the hotel’s impressive range of other entertaining spaces, continues its tradition of attracting the fashionable and famous. The sweeping staircases and twinkling chandeliers of the Great Room provide a grand setting for major events on the social calendar like the British Academy of Film and Television Awards and gala charity balls. The function venues, from the smaller Ballroom with its mirrored charm to the 20 renovated suites which make up 86 Park Lane, ensure a steady stream of well-dressed function attendees float through the hotel’s impressive lobby. Grosvenor House is full of charming spaces. Like the living room of an English stately home, the Park Room reflects the greens and florals of Hyde Park, which sits opposite the hotel. Grosvenor House’s specialty is the Afternoon Tea, credited to Anna Russell, the 7th Duchess of Bedford and one of Queen Victoria’s ladies in waiting, who is said to have requested from her butler a mid afternoon snack. “Anna’s Tea” is a choice of 17 international leaf blends accompanied by a delicate assortment of scones, sandwiches and pastries. By night the Park Room becomes the place for a glass of champagne as it houses the UK’s only Charles Heidsieck “library” where a comprehensive range of cuvees resides. Nearby the spectacular Red Bar is an art deco-styled cocktail lounge complete with leather clad bar and scarlet walls. It offers fine cognacs, beer, wine, champagne and cocktails including its signature cocktail the “Viking Red”, a scarlet confection of Aquavit, champagne, cassis and cranberry juice. Adjacent to the lobby is the Library Bar where, in the tranquility and comfort of a deep leather armchair surrounded by timber panelling, one can peruse the newspapers or enjoy a quiet drink. In the Bord’eaux Brasserie French chef Ollie Couillaud serves classic southwestern French fare in a cavernous yet charming space; the tiled floor has been transported from a Parisian restaurant and the decorative ceiling from a bakery in Austria. Corrigan’s of Mayfair offers guests a more formal Michelin quality dining experience under the supervision of international chef, Richard Corrigan. A variety of guestroom configurations are available. The redecoration has gone for a conservative mix of subtle yellows, greens and deep reds with marble bathrooms. Be sure to check your room has an exterior aspect, as some inward facing rooms can be gloomy. Rooms feature the famously comfortable Marriot Bed which is available for purchase. The hotel has enjoyed a strong American connection with its original design taking inspiration from the generous proportions of the great US hotels. Famous American heads have rested on the pillows of Grosvenor House including Henry Kissinger, Jacqueline Kennedy and Orson Welles. Yet the hotel retains its distinctly British flavour. The Queen Mother took to the dance floor at the Royal Caledonian Ball during the 1950s, perhaps with more grace than her daughter on the ice rink some years before. | |||||
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| Grosvenor House, A JW Marriot Hotel | |||||
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