‘I’m biased, but there’s a reason why the stars love my hotel’: Sir Rocco Forte reveals why royalty including Princess Diana and US presidents have crossed the threshold of his legendary London property
The oldest and one of the chicest hotels in London started life as a nondescript terraced house.
But since then, royalty, American presidents and many other leading figures from the past two centuries have crossed the threshold.
Notably, the then Princess Elizabeth was present as guest of honor at Brown’s Hotel for the regimental tea party of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in July 1951.
And Diana, Princess of Wales, was a guest at the Association of American Correspondents in London in 1996, at a time when she was consulting lawyers about her divorce from Prince Charles.
Legend has it that when Winston Churchill was asked which hotel in London he preferred, he replied: ‘I don’t stay in a hotel; I’m staying with Brown.’
Sir Rocco Forte has owned Brown’s Hotel (pictured) in London since 2003
Sir Rocco writes that Brown’s is London’s oldest hotel and ‘one of the chicest’. Above the lobby of the hotel
It has provided them all with a sanctuary that is both opulent and intimate. Located in the heart of Mayfair, it remains one of the most exclusive places to stay in the capital, spread across what was once 13 adjoining Georgian properties.
The Kipling Suite – named after author Rudyard Kipling – costs £6,000 per night.
Yet the original owner, after whom the hotel is named, was the humble servant James Brown, who, it is said, had worked in Lord Byron’s household.
He could only afford to rent the property and converted it into a hotel in 1832.
Pictured is the Kipling Suite, named after author Rudyard Kipling, who considered Brown’s his “second home”
Sir Rocco reveals that the hotel once had a strict dress code, requiring men to wear a jacket and tie. Upstairs is the salon
But his timing was perfect: the nobility began to prefer hotels to the costs of renting or maintaining a home in London.
Brown and his wife Sarah, another servant, made a winning team by learning to mirror their guests’ own country homes in a comfortable and discreet way.
Kipling considered Brown’s his second home.
The Sir Paul Smith Suite, which costs from £5,500 per night
The Sir Paul Smith Suite overlooks Dover Street and is ‘flooded with natural light’
The Sir Paul Smith suite, pictured, is a showcase for Smith’s creations, such as cushions from his latest homeware collection and sofas, tables and leather goods from his collaboration with Italian luxury furniture company DePadova
He had lunch with his best man on the day of his wedding and is said to have started The Second Jungle Book there.
It was also the place where he wrote to a friend in 1915: ‘My son is going to Flanders this week. So we wait in town until he leaves… ‘A month later John Kipling was killed at the Battle of Loos.
Horror movie star Peter Cushing called Brown’s “my favorite hotel in London.”
Horror movie star Peter Cushing called Brown’s “my favorite hotel in London.” Above is the private rental Roosevelt Room
Royal visitor: Princess Diana left the hotel in 1996
He even had a stay there written into his Hammer studio contract during filming.
One night, American writer Stephen King couldn’t sleep during his stay at Brown’s. He went downstairs to find a quiet place to write and was led by a concierge to a desk that, according to legend, Kipling had used during his visits.
“Stirring cup after cup of tea, I filled sixteen pages of a shorthand notebook,” King recalls.
The result was the outline of Misery, his 1987 novel about a deranged fan.
History has been made at Brown’s.
In 1877, inventor Alexander Graham Bell stayed on his honeymoon and brought his new gadget with him – and made the first telephone call in Europe.
The Fortes’ involvement with the hotel began in 1970 when my father Charles, who had built a significant business, merged with TrustHouse, which owned Brown’s.
After a hostile takeover of the group by Granada in 1996, I was able to take over in 2003 when the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund decided to sell it.
Yum is the word: Upstairs is Charlie’s, the hotel’s chic restaurant
Sip, sip hurray! Donovan’s, a 1960s photography-themed bar famous for its cocktails
In 1877, inventor Alexander Graham Bell stayed with Brown on his honeymoon and brought his new gadget with him – and made the first telephone call in Europe. Above, a replica period telephone sits in a conference room that honors the connection between the hotel and the Scot
A strict dress code was once enforced, requiring men to wear a jacket and tie.
The late actor Oliver Reed took off his pants in protest because legwear was not mandatory.
But even then he got the pants back nicely pressed at the end of the meal. Just as you would expect.
‘Brown’s Hotel: A Family Affair’, by Andy Williamson, is available now for £42, available to purchase at the hotel and online at roccoforteshop.nl