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| 1. |
When The Langham was opened on the 10th
of June 1865 by the Prince of Wales
(later to be Edward the VII), it was
London's first Grand Hotel. |
| 2. |
The Hotel took fifteen
months to build at a cost of 300,000
pounds and was conceived as the last
word in luxury. The Hotel was seven
stories high and included public spaces
lavishly decorated with marble, silks,
15,000 yards of Persian tapestries and
hand-printed wallpaper. |
| 3. |
Skilled
Italian craftsmen had been brought to
London to design and cast the plaster
relief ceilings and lay the intricate
mosaic flooring, decorated in white
gold and scarlet. |
| 4. |
The
builders claimed the Langham Hotel was
the largest building in London . Edward
Walford writing in 'Old and New London',
later described the hotel as, "not
a monster but a leviathan of its kind."
Rising 156 feet, the hotel had ten floors
in all, three underground including
the cellars, and upwards of 600 rooms,
if both the public and staff rooms were
included in the count. |
| 5. |
Technically
the building was a tour de force with
its own steam pumped artesian well,
hot and cold running water and WC's
in the bedrooms, air conditioning, and
the first hydraulically powered lifts
in the world. |
| 6. |
The
Prince of Wales continued to patronize
the Langham and it was natural that
visiting royalty and leaders should
take apartments at the Langham. Even
former heads of State in exile, were
granted a gracious welcome and Emperor
Louis Napoleon III spent much of his
last enforced exile from France at the
Langham. |
| 7. |
One
of the Hotels most famous guests was
the romantic novelist Maria Louisa Ramee
(penname Ouida) At the age of 28 in
1867 she took rooms at the Langham and
would visit the hotel for long periods
up until 1887. Ouida lived an exotic
life over the many years at the Langham
receiving her visitors while lying in
bed and writing manuscripts by the light
of scores of candles. Under Two
Flags, Idalia, Tricotrin and Puck
all originated from the Langham.
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| 8. |
"Tourist
Agencies", noted Charles Dickens in
1879, "have of late years assumed a
rather important place in the economy
of London . The system was originally
started by Messrs Thomas Cook and son."
The Langham's Railway ticket and Shipping
office was naturally one of the first
in London to be manned by representatives
of Messrs Thomas Cook and Son.
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| 9. |
In 1879
the Entrance to the Langham and the
courtyard were lit with Electric Light
and all bedrooms were progressively
fitted with the new form of illumination
at a cost 0f 5,000 pounds or three months
hotel profit. |
| 10. |
The
age of Victoria brought halcyon days
for the Langham and during 'the season'
claimed the Langham guide for 1887 "one
thousand pounds of meat are cut up daily,
while eight hundred pairs of boots are
cleaned every morning by an army of
forty shoeblacks". |
| 11. |
The
writer Howard Paul in 1890 wrote of
the Palm Court , "A spacious courtyard
decorated with palms, cupressus, and
picturesque, feathery green plants,
as though a bit of Kew Gardens had strayed
into town to enliven the metropolitan
bricks and mortar. |
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| 13. |
Playwright
and poet Oscar Wilde was a frequent
visitor, as was writers Mark Twain,
Somerset Maugham and George Orwell,
conductor Arturo Toscanini and composer
Antonin Dvorak (symphony number 8 in
G minor) |
| 14. |
The
Hotel also attracted its fair share
of notorious guests. To stay at the
Langham, after all, was a mark of having
arrived in the social world. In the
case of two turf swindlers, Carr and
Benson, in the late 1800's, a witness
for the defense claimed in court "I
knew he was a perfect gentleman - why
he had rooms at the Langham!" |
| 15. |
The
Langham kept up with innovation and
in the 1890's the hotel installed a
telephone and the number London 3571.
Later an exchange with seven lines was
installed and the number changed to
Mayfair 5080. Eventually the fame of
the Hotel ensured that the Telephone
Exchange for the whole district was
named 'Langham' and the Hotel given
the number 20809 with twenty lines.
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| 16. |
The
world of music has always patronized
the Langham. The Queens Hall, which
was destroyed during the Second World
War, was the premier concert hall in
London . It was home of the London Symphony
Orchestra and being just across the
road from the Langham ensured that many
famous conductors include Sir Henry
Wood regularly held court in the Hotel.
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| 17. |
In 1904,
a room at The Langham cost 9 shillings
(45 pence) and a suite cost from 29
shillings (£1.50). |
| 18. |
In
1919 The Langham was the scene of a
party given to celebrate the first non
stop light across the Atlantic by John
Alcock and Athur Brown. |
| 19. |
The American journalist
Henry Stanley stayed at The Langham while
preparing his journey to search for Dr.
Livingstone in Africa . In 1993, Dr. David
Livingstone's great-grandson set out from
the steps of The Langham to retrace his
ancestor's journey through Africa . |
| 20. |
A 1930's brochure states
that, "The Langham bedrooms, were not
just places to retire to but somewhere
the most seductive of mattresses and
pillows soothe you to sweet sleep."
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| 21. |
Suave and debonair Noel
Coward frequently took up a suite at the
Langham when he was working on his pre-second
World War stage successes and his witty
songs like 'Mad Dogs and Englishmen'. |
| 22. |
Sir Donald Bradman (the
most famous of all cricketers) and the
Australian cricket team chose the Langham
Hotel to stay at when the battle of the
Ashes was fought at Lords cricket Ground
and the Oval in the 1930's |
| 23. |
Haile Selassie, in 1936,
became the second emperor in exile to
stay at the Langham. He was not restored
to the Ethiopian 'Lion of Judah' throne
until 1941 when the British drove Mussolini
and the Italians out of his country. |
| 24. |
The Langham also welcomed
Mrs. Wallis Simpson during her courtship
to by the Duke of Windsor. Her visits
to the Langham and the ensuing 'romance
of the century' required the discretion
only a hotel of maturity could call
upon.
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| 25. |
After the abdication,
London turned its attention to the forthcoming
coronation of the Duke of Windsor's
brother, Gerorge VI. The Langham planned
an entire week of festivities and on
the Eve of Coronation, 11 th of May
1937, a seven-course Gala Coronation
dinner was priced "unusually steep"
at 15 shillings. |
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| 26. |
Brigadier General Charles
de Gaulle, the self declared leader of
the Free French and the man who was ultimately
to be President of France, lived briefly
at the Langham. |
| 27. |
In WWII Winston Churchill,
Gen. De Gaulle and U.S. war correspondent
Ed Murrow are said to have broadcast from
The Langham. |
| 28. |
The cumulative effects
of direct and indirect bomb attacks
during the Second World War eventually
caused the public closure of the Langham
in the 1940's. However the Langham still
continued to operate as a Hotel for
the staff and guests of the BBC and
the Bolivar restaurant still traded.
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| 29. |
The BBC bought the Hotel
from the Langham Hotel Company in 1965
and The BBC Club was moved into the Langham
and over the years gathered the famous
- actors politicians and writers whose
services were soon to be required or had
been dispensed with by the producers across
the road. While the BBC Radio Programme
" Palm Court " was broadcast from The
Langham's Palm Court . |
| 30. |
The hotel was earmarked
for restoration in 1986 when the BBC sold
the property following planning consent
by Westminster Council and the blessing
of the English Heritage, the government
agency responsible for the maintenance
and restoration of historic buildings. |
| 31. |
When being rebuilt it was
remarked, "The Langham rebuilding project
is an exciting challenge as we aim to
recreate what was London's first great
luxury hotel, incorporating all the ambiance
and grandeur of the original. On completion
in 1991, the Langham will be the most
luxurious Hotel to open in the capital
in a decade. The Langham is a Legend -
its name synonymous with Gracious Hospitality. |
| 32. |
The Hotel was reopened
on 4 March 1991 after a 100 million
pound restoration that took over four
years. Everywhere in the stunningly
restored building are examples of skilled
craftsmen which their Victorian predecessors
would be proud of. The elegance of old
- a world of marble, gilt, silk and
mahogany - is once a gain a reality
as gracious hospitality and history
meet at in a corner of London 's West
End . |
| 33. |
In 1991, Diana, Princess
of Wales visited the hotel. The Duchess
of Kent and the Duke of Edinburgh have
also visited and the hotel remains a favorite
of Sarah, Duchess of York. Recent celebrity
guests include Shirley Bassey, Rod Stewart,
David Hasselhof, Rikki Lake , Elton John,
Phil Collins, Rod Steiger and Richard
Gere. |
| 34. |
The hotel was chosen by
Courvoisier as one of the "Best of the
Best" and is now a "Leading Hotel of the
World" and Langham Hotels International
flagship property for its expanding portfolio
of hotels that span four continents. |
| 35. |
By taking its name from
the historic Langham Hotel in London
, Langham Hotels International is re-enforcing
its commitment to own or operate deluxe
hotels that offer traditional elegance,
innovation and genuine hospitality,
with now six hotels operating under
the Langham brand on four continents.
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