Iconic London hotel reopens

It is nearly a century since the Midland Grand Hotel, the spectacular Gothic Victorian building fronting London’s St Pancras station, last flourished, and 76 years since it was used as a hotel at all. However, this landmark building is to re-open its doors to guests as the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, following the completion of an ambitious £150 million restoration project.

Originally designed for the Midland Railway by Victorian architect Sir George Gilbert Scott and opened by Queen Victoria on 5 May 1873, the Midland Grand was the last and grandest of the railway hotels built to serve passengers at major termini.

However, despite a string of innovations, including lifts, fireproof construction and a generous supply of flushing lavatories, the hotel gradually began to fall behind the competition and eventually closed in 1935.

Seen as obsolete in the 1960s, the building was saved from demolition by former Poet Laureate, Sir John Betjeman, who said it was “too beautiful and too romantic to survive” in a world of tower blocks and concrete.

Despite Betjeman’s grim prediction the hotel did survive and hundreds of craftsmen and painters have spent the last five years bringing the 245-room hotel back to its 19th-century glory. As a result of their efforts many of the historic areas of the hotel have been carefully renovated, including the Ladies Smoking Room, which was the first public place in Europe where it was acceptable for women to smoke, and the original majestic staircase with its 50ft windows and elaborate vaulted ceiling that has featured in many films.

The opening of the new hotel marks the completion of the regeneration of St Pancras International station and guests can choose from a selection of rooms starting from £250 per night in a modern extension, going up to £10,000 for a night in the many-roomed Royal Suite. Facilities at the new hotel include a 350 capacity ballroom, luxury spa and swimming pool and bar housed in the original Victorian ticket office. For details visit www.stpancrasrenaissance.com