Guoman Hotels, a brand launched last year with a small portfolio of hotels around London, has reintroduced the Royal Horseguards hotel, after a $30 million refurbishment. The historic 280-room property, bordering the Thames near Trafalgar Square, has been refreshed within its original Victorian architecture.
Built in 1884 as private apartments, the rooms in the property now feature iPod docking stations, complimentary Wi-Fi, two flat-panel TVs, beds with Egyptian-thread linens, and redone bathrooms with Elemis toiletries. Said to be on land where the kings of Scotland used to live while staying in London, the property became the Royal Horseguards in 1971.
The Royal Horseguard's six small meeting rooms have been refreshed, as well. The suites are multifunctional, able to accommodate different configurations and from 10 to 70 guests. Meanwhile, Whitehall Place next door, a former private club dating back to 1887, is now a conference facility and part of the property.
Whitehall Place, accommodating 12 to 340 attendees, features the 2,200-sf Gladstone Library, which was once home to 30,000 books. It now holds 220 guests for dinner and is the largest of five event spaces. Adjacent to the library, the Reading & Writing Room, originally a billiards room, now holds 144 classroom-style and gives meeting-goers views across the Thames to the London Eye.
The Royal Horseguards has one restaurant,whose name, One Twenty One Two, is inspired by London's old emergency-services telephone number to Scotland Yard, which used to be a neighbor of the hotel.
Like the Royal Horseguards, the other properties in the fledgling Guoman brand are longstanding London hotels that have been refreshed, including Charing Cross, with 239 rooms and nine meeting spaces, and the Cumberland, with 1,019 rooms and 26 meeting rooms.
Meanwhile, not far away, Carlson's Park Plaza Hotels & Resorts will raise its flag on a 1,021-room hotel with 27,000 sf of meeting space in 2012, near Westminster Bridge. It is set to be a major meetings property in the Capital area.
Its modernity a contrast to Guoman's classic style, the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge London will be able to host from eight for a boardroom meeting to 1,250 for a cocktail reception—the latter with what Park Plaza intends to be one of the Capital's largest ballrooms. "We expect the hotel will be a major draw for events of all sizes," said GM Andrew Swindells.
In addition to 30 flexible meeting rooms, the 15-story, glass-enclosed property will have penthouse suites available for small meetings. Attendees will be able to dine at a signature restaurant and enjoy a lounge bar and a large spa.
Originally published Dec. 15, 2008