Marriott’s long-awaited Renaissance hotel at St Pancras International station finally has an opening date of May 5 next year, exactly 138 years after the original Midland Grand Hotel opened on the site.
The redbrick building’s High Victorian Gothic architecture was saved from demolition in the 1960s following a protest led by former Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman, and businesstraveller.com first reported that Marriott would be taking over the historic property as far back as 2006 (see online news May 24, 2006), with an original opening date of 2009.
But the 245-room property does now finally have an opening date of May 5, 2011, the anniversary of the opening of the iconic Midland Grand Hotel. The property has been extensively restored by Manhattan Loft Corporation in conjunction with the building’s owners London & Continental Railways, keeping many of the original features of the hotel including the “Ladies Smoking Room” and grand staircase.
The £150 million renovation project has seen a 120,000 square foot extension added to the original building, which will feature original artwork and contemporary design, in contrast to the Victorian interiors of the Booking House Bar and Restaurant. Other facilities include a ballroom accommodating up to 350 guests, a private club, barber’s shop, and a spa with swimming pool and seven treatment rooms.
The hotel represents the completion of the regeneration of St Pancras International station, which reopened in late 2007. To read the St Pancras special edition of Business Traveller, published at the time of the opening and including meeting venues near St Pancras, European rail options, and a guide to the hotels of Paris and Brussels, click here.
For more information visit stpancrasrenaissance.com.
Report by Mark Caswell
