Rocco Forte Hotel's Brown's Hotel In London, Set To Open In Autumn 2005

• 
  SAVE
• 
  SHARE
• 
  TEXT SIZE
• 
  PRINT
• 
  COMMENT
• 
  PDF

. October 14, 2008

LONDON, UK, June 6, 2005. Rocco Forte Hotels' Brown's Hotel, London's beloved "Grand Dame", is presently undergoing an extensive renovation programme under Rocco Forte Hotels' Director of Design Olga Polizzi and is due to re-open in late September 2005. As with all the hotels in the Rocco Forte Hotels collection, it will have up-to-the-minute facilities for business and leisure travellers.

Considered the epitome of elegant English hospitality, Brown's Hotel has been closed throughout the lb19-million renovation project. When it re-opens, it will retain many of its historic architectural features (such as stained glass windows, Edwardian oak panelling, working fireplaces and gilt mirrors) and traditions, but will offer a more contemporary feel and state of the art guest technology.

All of the guest rooms will offer two-line phones, voice messaging, broadband Internet connections and televisions with interactive video and hundreds of music CDs on demand; the suites will have flat-screen LCD televisions. Wireless Internet connections will be available in all public areas. There will be six private rooms that will accommodate both small meetings as well as gatherings of up to 120 people. The hotel will also have a comprehensive business centre.

Elsewhere, the renovation will have touched nearly every aspect of the hotel. In the 117 guestrooms, a variety of softer colour schemes will be featured, all reflecting a refined English charm that retains the sophistication for which the hotel is known, but with a modern flair. Lighter fabrics will include natural linens and silks, with angora throws on the beds. Distinctive lighting, offering a combination of current designs along with antiques, will brighten the rooms. Artwork by young English artists will grace the painted walls, providing a further nod to contemporary times. Many rooms will have sofas or chaise longues, and all will sport at least one antique from the 30s, 40s or 50s. The majority of guest accommodations will have walk-in wardrobes and mirrored foyers.

Each of the twelve guest suites will have a charming fireplace in the sitting room and will be individually designed. These new suites will be larger than the previous suites and have been strategically located to have the best views overlooking Albemarle Street. Mansard rooms on the hotel's top floor will feature timber floors, long banquettes at the windows and photos of well-known English politicians and writers who have a connection to the hotel.

Bathrooms will offer luxurious bush-hammered limestone walls, mosaic-tiled floors and separate walk-in showers. The larger suites will have double walk-in showers and wall-mounted flat-screen televisions.

A fresh new design will be reflected in the public areas of the hotel, while incorporating signature elements such as Edwardian oak panelling, Jacobean detailed plaster ceilings, historic stained glass and open fireplaces in the lounge. Black and white mosaic floors will be featured in the reception lobby as well as entrance areas at Albemarle Street and Dover Street, and the concierge desk will be moved to a more central area at the Albemarle Street entrance.

The Donovan Bar will be larger than its previous incarnation, incorporating the former Library restaurant and St George's bar. The stained glass window of the latter will remain, providing the backdrop to a new, extended bar. There will be wooden floors and contemporary furnishings to include leather and tapestry fabrics, along with a striking collection of Terence Donovan prints. Brown's English Tea Room will serve the best afternoon tea in London and will retain its famous discreet and elegant setting.

The restaurant, to be known as The Grill, will retain its clubby feel, but with a brighter, more elegant ambiance. Banquette booths will be added for further privacy and space, the original wood panelling will be lightened, and lighting will be 1930s lanterns as well as specially commissioned wall fixtures. London's best-known maitre d' Angelo Maresca will be on hand to welcome diners.

Executive Chef Laurence Glayzer (previously of the Savoy Grill, Harry's Bar and The Ritz and who joins Brown's fresh from running his own chateaux in France) will be producing a delicate balance of English fare and Continental cuisine with a modern interpretation, using the finest British produce in season.

Elsewhere there will be a fitness centre with three spa treatment rooms offering a wide selection of beauty treatments.

Brown's Hotel became part of the Rocco Forte collection in July 2003. It was first established in 1837 by former gentleman's servant, James Brown, when he acquired four adjacent houses in Dover Street. In 1859, the hotel was bought by James John Ford who then extended it to include the St. George's Hotel on Albemarle Street, which backed on to the Dover Street property. The new hotel soon became renowned as a place guaranteed to ensure comfort, privacy and understated service for its high-class guests - qualities that remain in place today.

The hotel has hosted many famous names and events: Alexander Graham Bell made the UK's first telephone call from the hotel in 1876; it was the first hotel to have a lift installed; and Rudyard Kipling wrote many of his works there, having first visited in 1892. Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt all spent time at the hotel, as did Queen Victoria and other members of European royalty.

Today, Brown's is playing a central role in the emergence of Mayfair as a vibrant part of London. Further along Albemarle Street, creative director Jade Jagger has injected youth and glamour into crown jewellers Gerard, while its sister Asprey (which is just around the corner in New Bond Street with a host of other top quality brands) has recently re-opened to great acclaim. In addition, two of London's newest and most high profile restaurants, Sketch and The Wolseley, are within walking distance of the hotel.