As London blossomed through the 19th and early 20th centuries, its grand hotels symbolised an opulent era

Many of London’s grand Victorian hotels sprang up alongside the equally splendid 19th Century rail stations. But London’s oldest luxury accommodation provider was established long before the Victorian era. With almost 200 years of the very best hospitality, here are London’s best old hotels.

GREAT NORTHERN HOTEL 1854

Celebrating 170 years, this curving hotel wraps around the southwest corner of King’s Cross Station and has corridors wide enough to accommodate the hooped skirts of Victorian maids. Its shape follows the course of the (now below-street) Fleet River and the rooms combine vintage railway style with modern convenience.

BROWN’S HOTEL 1832

Reputed to be London’s oldest, Brown’s was established by Mr J. Brown who was ‘confident every convenience and comfort will be found’ and has long been favoured by renowned writers, including Agatha Christie.

Rudyard Kipling used this hotel for his wedding night and honeymoon, and Stephen King wrote Misery here (but that’s no reflection on the bright and floral-wallpapered rooms).

THE SAVOY 1889

When you stay at The Savoy you’ll be looking in the same mirrors as some of the wealthiest and most famous people of the past 135 years.

Using his Gilbert & Sullivan opera profits, theatre impresario Richard D’Oyly Carte opened Britain’s first purpose-built luxury hotel which, of course, included a fine-dining restaurant that to this day serves food as spectacular as the rooms’ Thames views.

THE LANGHAM 1865

The Langham looms over the equally grand BBC Broadcasting House across the road. 380 opulent rooms have been welcoming guests both real-life and fictional (including Sherlock Holmes) since 1865. Today you can relax in the award-winning spa and swim in a pool located in what was once a bank vault.

ANDAZ LONDON LIVERPOOL STREET 1884

This is the furthest east we’ll travel in the city and we’re at the second of our railway hotels. Christened the Great Eastern Hotel in 1884 the less grandly named Andaz is unique in that it contains two Masonic Temples. Travel even further back in time and we see that it occupies the site of the original ‘Bedlam’ hospital, founded in 1247.

ST PANCRAS RENAISSANCE 1873

Victorian Britain’s railway companies each felt the need to demonstrate that they were the best, and there was perhaps no greater way of showing off than with their London terminus hotels.


Buildings don’t get much more boastful than George Gilbert Scott’s 1873 masterpiece the St Pancras Renaissance (formerly known as the Midland Grand).

Codebreaker, singer and preservationist Jane Fawcett led her Victorian Society in saving this neo-gothic goliath from demolition in 1967, today anyone is welcome to enjoy a cocktail in the elegant Booking Office or Gothic Bar.

CLARIDGE’S 1854

Any hotel located in Mayfair is going to be dripping with vintage elegance, yet Claridge’s bedrooms are a study in low-key luxury.

Although the hotel first began trading as ‘Claridge’s’ in 1854 the building originates from 1812 when it was known as Mivart’s Hotel.

But then our favourite impresario, D’Oyly Carte bought the building, demolished it and, in 1894, replicated his Savoy flair with this seven-storey institution that now also includes five basement levels and a lake on the roof. Radiant interiors perfectly showcase antique furniture and works of art.

ROSEWOOD LONDON 1912

The youngest of our old hotels, Rosewood London is set back from the bustle of Holborn and is palatial inside and out. Constructed for an insurance company in the same year that Titanic set sail, it was converted into a hotel in 2000. Renovations in 2013 have preserved the marble and dark wood interiors and created spacious rooms.

    LANDMARK LONDON 1899

    Taking up an entire city block, this hotel is literally connected to the railway it was built to serve. The Grand Central Railway terminated at Marylebone Station and passengers can still walk from there to the hotel beneath a large iron and glass roof.

    Above the hotel’s immense Winter Garden yet more glass shelters guests from the weather and allows light into the bedrooms, where muted colours are enhanced by Greek-style lamps.

    THE RITZ 1906

    The Ritz is perhaps London’s most famous hotel. Eight years after opening his Paris hotel, César Ritz built this grand Piccadilly edifice for the city’s famous and fashionable. Indeed playwrights, prime ministers, prima ballerinas and many members of the Royal Family have all paid visits. You, too, will feel most regal when entering your bedroom, which wouldn’t look out of place in nearby Buckingham Palace.

    THE CADOGAN 1887

    Now owned by high-end group Belmond, Chelsea’s The Cadogan was once the scene of both.

    Lillie Langtry’s romantic encounters with the future King Edward VII and the arrest of her friend Oscar Wilde (in room 118). Inside its stucco and red brick exterior are 54 rooms and suites, all featuring understated modern designs that include occasional nods to the building’s long history.