London's famous Brown's Hotel is set to reopen on December 12 following an extensive refurbishment.
Since taking over the well-known Mayfair hotel in 2003, Rocco Forte Hotels has performed a £19 million makeover – which was overseen by Sir Rocco Forte's sister and hotel designer Olga Polizzi. The new Brown's will have 117 guestrooms and suites in contemporary design, six private meeting rooms, three spa treatment rooms and a 70sqm fully-equipped cardiovascular gym.
Guests will dine in The Grill under the watchful eyes of Maitre d' Angelo Maresca, previously of the Savoy Grill, while the kitchen will be at the helm of executive chef Laurence Glayzer of The Ritz and Savoy Grill.
Brown's first opened in 1837 and is enshrined in London's cultural history with a host of famous guests, including Alexander Graham Bell, who made the UK's first telephone call from the hotel in 1876, Rudyard Kipling and a procession of Roosevelts, from Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor.
Report by Sarah Maxwell