Brown’s Hotel, London
One of the oldest hotels in London, Brow’s Hotel, was established in 1837, by James and Sarah Brown. The hotel has a total of 115 rooms, and 33 suites.
The hotel has had a number of famous guests over the years, including historian John Lothrop Motley, well-known Victorian writers Oscar Wilde, Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Bram Stoker. One of the most well-known events to ever take place in the hotel was the first ever telephone call made in the entirety of Europe, when the hotel hosted Alexander Graham Bell. The hotel has also hosted a number of European royals over the years, including Empress Eugenie, and Elizabeth, Queen of the Belgians.
The Brown’s Hotel is best known for its traditional Victorian era style, fused with a contemporary feel. The bedrooms were design
ed by Olga Polizzi, and combine modern features with traditional furniture, with each room being individually decorated.
The hotel features several restaurants, including The Restaurant at Brown’s, which was previously called The Albemarie, which is an informal A La Carte restaurant that serves seasonal British cuisine. The Brown’s English Tea Room serves afternoon tea and light snacks and has done so since the middle of the nineteenth century. The hotel also features The Donovan Bar, which was named after British photographer Terence Donovan. The bar is lined with over 50 of his black and white prints, furnished with wooden floors, and has black leather seating and dark country check banquettes. The bar is known for hosting a number of celebrities over the years, particularly those in the literary world, such as Stephen King, Agatha Christie, and Rudyard Kipling visiting on more than one occasion.