The Lanesborough

Henry Gray wrote his Anatomy in the building that is now The Lanesborough. William Wilkins, the architect of the National Gallery, designed it in 1827 as the new home of St George's Hospital, a Greek Revival block in stone-coloured stucco on the site of Lanesborough House, the country retreat built in 1719 for James Lane, second Viscount Lanesborough. The hospital stayed until 1980, when it moved to Tooting. Eleven years later the Grade II* building reopened as a hotel, and it has kept the Lanesborough name ever since.

History

St George's Hospital had occupied Lanesborough House since 1733, when Hyde Park Corner was still the edge of London. Wilkins' replacement went up between 1827 and 1829 and was extended during the nineteenth century as the hospital grew. Gray, then a demonstrator of anatomy at St George's, published Gray's Anatomy in 1858 from his work there. John Hunter, the surgeon, had died in the earlier building in 1793.

After the hospital moved out, the building stood empty while its future was argued over. Rosewood Hotels converted it and opened The Lanesborough in 1991, with Regency interiors by Ezra Attia that set the tone the house still follows. St Regis managed it from 2001. In December 2013 it closed for an eighteen-month refurbishment by the Paris studio of Alberto Pinto, completed after his death by his sister Linda Pinto, and reopened in July 2015 under Oetker Collection, the family-owned group that also runs Le Bristol in Paris and the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc.

Architecture and design

The long symmetrical front faces Hyde Park Corner, with Apsley House, the Duke of Wellington's home, directly across the road and the Wellington Arch beyond. Wilkins gave the building a central pediment and plain classical proportions; the hospital wards behind became hotel corridors. Pinto's interiors are Regency in spirit rather than in period detail: hand-painted ceilings, marquetry floors, silk damask and a great deal of gilt. The former dining room, under a glass lantern roof with Wedgwood-blue walls and white plaster reliefs, is the most photographed room in the house.

Rooms and suites

The hotel has 93 rooms and suites, of which 43 are suites. Every room is served by a butler, 24 hours a day, which has been the hotel's calling card since 1991. Rooms facing Hyde Park Corner have the view of Apsley House and the Arch; those at the back look over the gardens of Buckingham Palace. The Royal Suite on the first floor can be extended to seven bedrooms by opening doors into neighbouring rooms, and is counted among the most expensive hotel suites in London.

Dining

The Lanesborough Grill occupies the domed room, serving British dishes with carving trolleys and a Sunday roast that fills the room with families from Belgravia. It replaced Céleste, which had opened with the 2015 refurbishment and held a Michelin star. The Library Bar is the hotel's bar of record, with armchairs, a fireplace and a cellar of vintage cognacs. The Garden Room, with a roof that opens, is the cigar lounge, one of the few in London where smoking is still permitted indoors.

Wellness

The Lanesborough Club & Spa opened in 2017 within the hotel. It combines a members' club with the hotel spa: a gym, a hydrotherapy pool, steam and sauna, treatment rooms and a cafe. Hotel guests use it as part of their stay. There is no full-size swimming pool.

Weddings and events

The hotel's private rooms are on the ground floor and are used for weddings, dinners and board meetings, with the Grill and the Library Bar available for larger receptions. The building is licensed for civil ceremonies. A wedding here draws on the butlers, the kitchen of the Grill and the view of the Wellington Arch from the front rooms.

Location

Hyde Park Corner station on the Piccadilly line is outside the door, and the line runs direct to Heathrow. Knightsbridge and Harrods are a few hundred metres west, Belgravia begins behind the hotel, and Buckingham Palace is a ten-minute walk through Green Park. Of every luxury hotel in London, this is the one with Wellington as a neighbour.