My mum Rene (Alice Irene Flitney née Harding) died in 1999. When my brother, sister and I went through her things we found an envelope full of old newspaper clippings and other bits and pieces. We looked through the papers and put the envelope away, but those yellowing pieces of paper keep whispering of half-forgotten times and places. Places like Butlers Cross, Stoke Mandeville, Aylesbury, West Wycombe, Little Kimble, Wendover, Ellesborough, Southcourt and Princes Risborough.

Friday 24 July 2015

The Grand Dame of Park Lane...



 Luggage label from 1929 (via)

Until the 1730s, the site on which the hotel now stands was described as meadows and ‘swampy meads’. The first building on the site was a large detached house located on the south side of Upper Grosvenor Street. The house passed through several owners, including the Duke of Cumberland and The Duke of Gloucester. The property changed hands again in 1806 when Lord Grosvenor purchased Gloucester House (as it was then known) and in 1808, he re-named it Grosvenor House. It remained the Grosvenor family’s London home for over 100 years. 

Grosvenor House facade c1800 (via)

At the outbreak of the First World War the house was put at the disposal of the Government, and occupied by the Food Controller’s Department until 1920. It was then put up for sale and purchased by a commercial speculator by the name of Mr. A. O. Edwards. It was Edwards who built what is now the Grosvenor House Hotel. The architect was L. Rome Guthrie, with external elevations by Sir Edwin Lutyens.  Work began in April 1927 and was completed in the spring of 1929. Not everyone approved of Mayfair’s new landmark. In a letter to The Times, it was described as an insult to the good taste and aesthetic judgement of the citizens of the metropolis.

The Grosvenor House Hotel (via)

The hotel opened its doors to the public on the 14th May, 1929. A press release announced the standard set by Grosvenor House begins with better food, wines, services and private accommodation than has so far been achieved, and it ends with a diversity of social and recreational amenitiesIn addition, the hotel was the first in London to have a bathroom and running iced water to every bedroom.

26 September 1929 - Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer

I’ve read that Queen Elizabeth II learnt to skate on the Grosvenor House Hotel ice rink. I have no way of knowing if that little piece of information is correct. The hotel certainly housed an ice rink until 1934 when it was converted into a banqueting space.

Grosvenor House Hotel Advertising Postcard c1930s

World War II brought dramatic changes to the hotel. The Great Room became home to the Officers’ Sunday Club. The hotel was also used briefly used as an annexe to the Immigration Section of the US Embassy; and in 1943, the hotel became the largest US Officers’ mess, serving 5.5 million meals in two years.

A 92 bedroom extension was added to the hotel in 1956. This was only made possible after the death of Baron Bruno Schröder, who had acquired the lease of 35 Park Street in about 1910, and refused to give it up. He remained in his house until his death in 1943, when permission to demolish the building was finally given.

Several major events took place in the 60s including a concert performed by The Beatles. In 1963 the hotel was acquired by Trust Houses who spent £500,000 on refurbishments.

While considering what to contribute to this week's Sepia Saturday, I remembered this photograph taken at the Grosvenor sometime in the 1980s. 


I'm at the front on the right as you look at the picture sitting next to my husband (he with the snazzy red bow tie). We have absolutely no recollection of the names of the people sitting with us. We were introduced on the night but didn't meet them again, which was often the way with these events. The only reason we can safely say the photograph was taken at The Grosvenor is because it is in one of their photo sleeves. We can't even remember what the occasion was other than to say it was probably a Ford Motor Company dinner.  My only abiding memory from the night is of being mightily impressed by the exterior of the building. 



More recent years have seen a great many changes at The Grosvenor. It was purchased by The Royal Bank of Scotland in 2001 to be managed by Marriott International and rebranded the Grosvenor House a JW Marriott Hotel.  It underwent a four-year renovation and restoration costing £142 million, reopening in 2008. In 2010, the Indian financial services group Sahara India Pariwar purchased the hotel from Royal Bank of Scotland for £470 million.  

An announcement in the press on March 2nd, 2015 brings the story more or less up to date; Deloitte was today appointed to handle the administration of Sahara Grosvenor House Hospitality Limited, which owns the long leasehold, on behalf of Bank of China. The underlying operating lease with Marriott, which operates the hotel, is unaffected by the appointment and the hotel continues to trade as normal. The rest of the newspaper article is available here




This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday 290; Hotels - Illustrations - Design

That concludes our tour of the 'Grand Dame of Park Lane'. It’s now time to pack your overnight bag for a visit to Sepia Saturday.


30 comments:

  1. Lovely photograph of you both and very interesting blog.

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    1. Thanks Sue, glad you enjoyed it. I hope to get a bit more time to do more about the family soon. xx

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  2. Hi Barbara,A very informative piece with a delightful surprise at the end. The picture of you and Terry. You looking so lovely and elegant with Terry so dapper and handsome while both so at ease in such surroundings.

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    1. Hello John, oh to be that age again! Nothing bothered us back then – a trip to the Grosvenor, yes why not let’s go. It would throw both of us into a blind panic now. Mostly because we would have nothing to wear!

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  3. Thanks for that very interesting history of the Grosvenor. A striking design in the first picture, which looks like it could be a poster of some kind. I haven't been to the Grosvenor but enjoyed high tea at the nearby Connaught before our daughter's wedding in 2012.

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    1. Thanks for the reminder Jo, I forgot to label up some of the pictures and also forgot to include the links! The image you mention is a luggage label from 1929 found on Pinterest. High tea at the Connaught sounds wonderful.

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  4. Wow - what a history! From an ostentatious personal abode to a 494 room hotel. Fun post. And how fortunate the best-looking couple in the group was right-hand front & center Love your husband's red bow tie! :)

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    1. Why thank you! I will let my husband know you like his bow tie; it will make his day : )

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  5. What a terrific luggage label :) Most interesting post. regards from the antipodes.

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    1. Thanks Anne, so glad you enjoyed it. Barbara

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  6. I remember passing the Grosvenor House when we lived in London in the 70s, but I never went in. As a building I think one would be pressed to call it beautiful, but it was certainly imposing. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the history of the site.

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    1. Imposing is exactly the right word. I can’t remember what it was like inside but judging by the photograph it was probably a little 'faded'.

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  7. For an "insult to good taste," the hotel seems to have done well despite early observations. I have to laugh at your souvenir photo of some long-forgotten dinner with a bunch of strangers. I've been to a lot of those dinners too where the tables are so big and the noise level so high that you can talk only to the person on your immediate right or left. When my husband and I were just starting out, I really thought that was the high-life; now I dread it when he comes home with another invitation.

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    1. Hi Wendy, I really don’t envy you those invitations, although a few years ago I would have. I am much happier at home these days, but glad I got to go places and see things I would otherwise have missed.

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  8. I love the design of the luggage label.

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  9. Barbara this is a great story. Thank you so much. I loved reading it. Particularly the bit about the ice skating rink :)

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    1. Thanks Alex, glad you found it interesting.

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  10. I think the hotel looks far better than the original house, which really seems ostentatious.
    As with everyone else, I love the luggage tag.

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    1. Hi Violet, I have to agree with you. The hotel is not all that pretty, but it is imposing.

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  11. Absolutely a grand place, and interesting story. We have a luxury hotel complete with ice skating rink as well, (renovated within an old train station) and it's quite a draw for folks.

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    1. Hello Karen, that sounds fascinating. I would love to visit.

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  12. Really enjoyed the history of the hotel and it's incarnations. And although there is a part of me that hates to see the history and buildings and things of the past go, this was an interesting view of change -- and not change. Good post.

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    1. Hello Joan, I know exactly what you mean. The Grosvenor has gone through many ups and downs, but it seems to survive them all with ease.

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  13. A grand post about an iconic hotel. Though I never went inside I know the area well as the hotel was near where I lived in London in the 80s. I often walked by it to visit Hyde Parks Speakers Corner on Sunday afternoons.

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    1. Hello Mike, thank you for those kind words. Do you know I’ve never visited Speakers Corner – I’ve visited London dozens of times but never Hyde Park on A Sunday afternoon. That is something I must remedy.

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  14. Most enjoyable post, and comments. I've now found reading SS on Mon gives me the perspective of all those other Sepians!

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    1. Hello Barbara, I look forward to reading the SS posts. I might not always participate or comment, but I’m always reading away.

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  15. This was a great and interesting direction to take the post. Learned a lot and enjoyed all of it.

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    1. So pleased you enjoyed it, thanks for calling in. Barbara

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I really appreciate your comment. Thank you!
Barbara x

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