Metropole Hotel, London
| Corinthia Hotel London | |
|---|---|
The hotel, c. 1900
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| Hotel chain | Corinthia Hotels |
| General information | |
| Location | London, England |
| Address | Whitehall Place |
| Opening | 1885, restored 2011 |
| Management | CHI Hotels & Resorts |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 294 |
| Number of suites | 47 |
| Number of restaurants | 3 |
| Website | |
| www |
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The Corinthia Hotel London, at the corner of Northumberland Avenue and Whitehall Place in London, is a luxury hotel and former British Government building, located on a triangular site between Trafalgar Square and the Thames Embankment.
Originally built as the Metropole Hotel, its location close to the Palace of Westminster and government offices in Whitehall meant it was commandeered in both world wars. After the Second World War, it was purchased by the Ministry of Defence and used as government offices until it was declared surplus to requirements and sold by Crown Estates in 2007. It was then restored as a hotel and renamed the Corinthia Hotel London, a combination hotel and residential building.
Commissioned by the Gordon Hotels company, construction was started in 1883. The hotel opened in 1885, with an 88-page brochure which claimed:
The hotel was the base for the Aero Club and the Alpine Club, and acted as the gathering point for competitors in the first London to Brighton run in 1896. The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII entertained guests at the hotel on various occasions, having a reserved box in the ballroom and using the Royal Suite, thought to have been the first floor rooms with bowfronted windows fronting Whitehall Place.
The hotel was requisitioned in the run-up to World War I to provide accommodation for government staff, together with the other hotels and buildings in Northumberland Avenue, including the Constitutional Club and the offices of the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge.
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