Brown's Hotel

Infobox hotel
hotel_name = Brown's Hotel


image_width = 230px
caption =
location = London, England, UK
coordinates =
opening_date = 1837
stars = 5
diamonds =
closing_date =
developer =
architect =
operator = The Rocco Forte Collection
owner = The Rocco Forte Collection
number_of_restaurants = 1
number_of_rooms = 117
number_of_suites = 29
floor_area =
floors = 5
parking = Valet Parking
website = [http://www.brownshotel.com/ brownshotel.com]
footnotes =

Brown's Hotel is a luxury 5-star hotel in London, England. Since 3 July 2003 it has been owned by The Rocco Forte Collection. The hotel is a member of The Leading Hotels of the World.

Set in the heart of Mayfair on Albemarle Street, Brown's Hotel is one of the most historic hotels in London. Within a short walk from Bond Street, West End Theatres and St James's, Brown's Hotel was founded in 1837.

In 1859, Brown's was purchased by the Ford family. Henry Ford installed fixed baths, electric lighting and a lift (one of the first in Britain). He also created the first public dining room in London - prior to this, hotel guests hired individual suites and dined privately.

In 1889, the Ford family purchased the St George's Hotel in Albemarle Street, which backed on to Brown's, and combined the two hotels, adding a fifth floor to both properties. On Albemarle Street, a new front of stucco and entrance portico were built, and two panels of blue and gold mosaic bearing the legend of Brown's and St George's were placed on the wall (both still exist today).

The hotel has hosted some notable people. Alexander Graham Bell went to stay in 1876 to demonstrate his new invention - the telephone - and the first successful telephone call in Great Britain was made from Brown's. The Niagara Room commemorates the meeting held there in 1890 by the International Niagara Commission, which agreed on 'the adoption of electrical methods as the chief means of distributing Niagara power'; the inauguration of the alternating current system resulted and has subsequently been adopted throughout the world.

In 1886, Theodore Roosevelt stayed at Brown's prior to his second marriage. Royal guests have included Napoleon III and Princess Eugenie, Queen Elizabeth of the Belgians (who took refuge in the hotel during World War I), Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia and King George II of the Hellenes, who stayed at Brown's for nine years after his exile from Greece in 1924.

Celebrities and writers who have loved Brown's include Cecil Rhodes, founder of Rhodesia, Rudyard Kipling (who completed "The Jungle Book" there) and Agatha Christie, who based her 1965 thriller "At Bertram's Hotel" on Brown's.

Awards

# Prix Villégiature Awards 2006 - Brown's Hotel was voted 'Best Hotel in Europe' at the prestigious Prix Villégiature Awards in Paris in October 2006

# Time Out London Eating and Drinking Awards 2006 - Donovan Bar was one of the runners up for "Best Bar"

# UKBG National Competition 2006 - Antonio Dandrea, Head Barman from The Donovan Bar at Brown's Hotel, has won the United Kingdom's Bartender's Guild National Competition 2006.

# Condé Nast Traveller (USA) Hot List 2006 - Brown's Hotel is listed among an elite group of 130 of the newest hotels worldwide. The editors of Conde Nast Traveller felt that Brown's had that unique confluence of design, service and style Condé Nast Traveller (UK) Hot List 2006 - Listed among 60 of the "hottest, newest hotels" in the world

External links

* [http://www.brownshotel.com/ Hotel's Website]
* [http://www.roccofortecollection.com/ The Rocco Forte Collection's Website]
* [http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g186338-d188019-Reviews-Brown_s_Hotel-London_England.html Hotel Review on TripAdvisor]