] JW Marriott Grosvenor House London, formerly the Grosvenor House Hotel, is a

luxury hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suite (hotel), suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a d ...

that opened in 1929 in the

Mayfair Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...

area of London, England. Across from Hyde Park, the hotel is built on the former site of the 19th century aristocratic

Grosvenor House Grosvenor House was one of the largest townhouse (Great Britain), townhouses in London, home of the Grosvenor family (the family of the Dukes of Westminster) for more than a century. Their original London residence was on Millbank, but after t ...

residence. The hotel is managed by

JW Marriott Hotels JW Marriott is an American luxury hotel brand owned by Marriott International. History The JW Marriott brand was established in 1984, with the opening of the first hotel in Washington, D.C. It was named as a tribute to J.W. Marriott, the foun ...

, which is a brand of

Marriott International Marriott International, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational company that operates, franchises, and licenses lodging brands that include hotel, residential, and timeshare properties. Marriott International owns over 37 ho ...

, and it is owned by Katara Hospitality.

History

The Grosvenor House Hotel was built in the 1920s and opened in 1929 on the site of

, the former London residence of the Dukes of Westminster, whose family name is Grosvenor. The hotel owed its existence to Arthur Octavius Edwards, who conceived and built it, then presided over it as chairman for 10 years. A.H. Jones had worked for Edwards in

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

. In January 1929, six months after the completion of the first block of apartments, and six months before completion of the hotel, Edwards brought Jones to Grosvenor House as accountant. In 1936, at the age of 29, Jones became general manager of Grosvenor House. Apart from the war years, when he served with the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

and later in the

NAAFI The Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI ) is a company created by the United Kingdom, British government on 9 December 1920 to run recreational establishments needed by the British Armed Forces, and to sell goods to servicemen and their fam ...

, Jones held this position until he retired in 1965. The hotel gained widespread publicity in 1934 when Edwards named his de Havilland DH.88 Comet racer after it and won the MacRobertson England-Australia Air Race. The restored plane still flies in its original livery with the Shuttleworth Collection. Grosvenor House managed to have a 'good'

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Ten thousand sandbags and five miles of blackout material protected the building, and its entertaining space was used in the war effort. The Great Room initially became home to the Officers' Sunday Club and then, in 1943, to the US officers' mess. Generals

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

and George S. Patton were regular visitors. The original scheme for the hotel was not finally realised until the 1950s because Bruno, Baron Schröder, who had acquired the lease of 35, Park Street in about 1910, had refused to give it up to Edwards. Schröder remained in the house until his death in 1940, and permission to demolish the house was finally given in 1956. The house was replaced with a 92-bedroom extension, which was officially opened in 1957 by the

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...

, Peter Thorneycroft. The hotel underwent a four-year renovation and restoration costing £142 million, and it reopened in 2008. This included a full refurbishment of all restaurants, guest rooms, health facilities, and public areas. The Great Room, Ballroom, Court Suite, restaurants, bars, meeting spaces and 494 guest rooms can accommodate a total of over 6,000 people. In 2010, Indian conglomerate Sahara India Pariwar purchased the hotel from the

Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland Public Limited Company () is a major retail banking, retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest and Ulster Bank. The Royal Bank of Sco ...

for £470 million. Sahara India Pariwar also owned a controlling stake in New York's famous Plaza Hotel from 2012 to 2018. Grosvenor House is managed by the

brand of

. The hotel drew protests in 2017 when it hosted the annual gathering of the Aerospace Defence Security group (ADS), a trade association which represents arms companies. Campaigners stood outside the hotel and held banners protesting the role of some ADS member companies in the arming of Saudi Arabia during its attack on Yemen. In April 2017, Sahara India Pariwar turned down an offer of more than £600 million for the hotel from British billionaires

David and Frederick Barclay Sir David Rowat Barclay (27 October 1934 – 10 January 2021) and Sir Frederick Hugh Barclay (born 27 October 1934), commonly referred to as the "Barclay Brothers" or "Barclay Twins", were British billionaire brothers, of whom Frederick Barclay ...

, before finally selling the hotel to US-based

Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation Ben Ashkenazy (born 1969) is an Israeli-American billionaire real estate developer. He is the founder, CEO, and majority owner of Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation, which has a $12 billion property portfolio. As of February 2024, his net worth ...

for an undisclosed sum. In November 2018, it was announced that Katara Hospitality (owned by the

Qatar Investment Authority The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA; ) is Qatar's sovereign wealth fund. The QIA was founded by the State of Qatar in 2005 to strengthen the country's economy by diversifying into new asset classes. In November 2024, the QIA had an estimated $526 ...

) was buying the hotel for an undisclosed sum.

Facilities

Grosvenor House was the first hotel in London at that time to have a separate bathroom and entrance lobby for each bedroom, and running iced water in every bathroom. When the hotel first opened, it was also the headquarters of the International Sportsmen's Club. Its facilities included Turkish baths, a swimming pool, squash courts and a gymnasium. The hotel has a pedestrian entrance on

Park Lane Park Lane is a dual carriageway road in the City of Westminster in Central London. It is part of the London Inner Ring Road and runs from Hyde Park Corner in the south to Marble Arch in the north. It separates Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park to ...

in Mayfair, but this is not the 'main/courtyard' entrance, which is actually on Park Street. The official address of the hotel is 86–90, Park Lane.

Great Room

The Great Room (which is a separate room from the Ballroom) at the Grosvenor House is the venue of many prominent awards evenings such as

The Asian Awards The Asian Awards is an annual award ceremony for the global British Asian, Asian community which takes place in the United Kingdom, with 14 categories that include business, philanthropy, entertainment, culture and sport. Nominees are selected by ...

, Pride of Britain Awards, and the O2 Silver Clef Awards, as well as charity balls and other events, and it is often seen on British television. For example, the

UK Chamber of Shipping The UK Chamber of Shipping is the trade association and lobbying organisation of the UK shipping industry, representing around 200 member companies. They work with government, parliament, international organisations and others in the maritime ind ...

hosts an annual maritime gala dinner at the hotel. Since the 1930s, the Great Room has hosted the world's oldest charitable ball, the Royal Caledonian Ball, and it is one of the largest ballrooms in Europe, with a maximum capacity of 2,000 seated (200 10-person tables) or 1,100 theatre style. Although now not used as such, the Great Room was originally built as an ice-rink, and much of the machinery lies dormant under the current flooring. In 1933, Princess Elizabeth, the future

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

, learnt to skate at the hotel at just seven years of age.

Sonja Henie Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 – 12 October 1969) was a Norway, Norwegian figure skating, figure skater and film star. She was a three-time List of Olympic medalists in figure skating, Olympic champion (Figure skating at the 1928 Winter Olympics, ...

, Cecilia Colledge, and other famous skaters frequently displayed their skill. International ice hockey matches were played there, and the newly formed Grosvenor House Canadian hockey team, recruited from Canadians living in London, played the Queen's Ice Hockey Club on the rink, the first of a series of matches against teams from the United Kingdom and the Continent. Anticipating competition from other ice rinks, the rink was converted in 1935 into a banquet hall measuring 1,902 square metres (20,454 square feet).

Music

Dance music was first relayed from the hotel for BBC national broadcasts in 1929, conducted by American bandleader Jack Harris, sometimes deputised by Joseph Meeus. Sydney Lipton took over as resident bandleader in 1933 and conducted at the hotel most nights, with the regular radio broadcasts continuing. Among Lipton's musicians were the instrumentalists Ted Heath,

George Evans George Evans may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George "Honey Boy" Evans (1870–1915), American songwriter and entertainer * George Evans (bandleader) (1915–1993), English jazz bandleader, arranger and tenor saxophonist * George Evans (sin ...

, Billy Munn, Harry Hayes, Bill McGuffie, Freddy Gardner, Max Goldberg and

Max Abrams Max Abrams (original name Max Abramovitch, 11 August 1907 – 5 November 1995), was a British dance band and jazz drummer and an influential teacher of several generations of drummers. Early career Born in Glasgow, Abrams was largely self-taught ...

, and the singers Anona Wynn, Primrose Hayes, Les Allen, and Chips Chippindall, as well as Lipton's daughter Celia. Lipton was called up to serve with the

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communications an ...

in May 1941 and Billy Mayerl stepped in as leader. Lipton returned after the war and continued to lead the hotel's orchestra until 1967.

Tenants

Richard Corrigan rents space within the hotel and runs the restaurant Corrigan's Mayfair.

References

External links

* {{Hotels in London Buildings and structures in Mayfair Hotels in the City of Westminster Hotels established in 1929 Hotel buildings completed in 1929 Art Deco hotels Art Deco architecture in London JW Marriott Hotels 1929 establishments in England