Great Eastern Hotel, London

Andaz London Liverpool Street
Former names Great Eastern Hotel, Liverpool Street Hotel
General information
Location Liverpool Street, London, England
Opening 1884
Owner Hyatt Hotels Corporation
Design and construction
Architect Edward Middleton Barry, Charles Barry, Jr.
Other information
Number of rooms 267
Number of suites 15
Number of restaurants 5
Website
http://london.liverpoolstreet.andaz.hyatt.com

Andaz London Liverpool Street is a 5 star hotel in central London, situated immediately south of Liverpool Street station, originally built as the Great Eastern Hotel in 1884. The building underwent extensive renovation and expansion between 1899 and 1901[1] and again in 2000, when it was co-owned by Terence Conran.[2] Hyatt has owned the hotel since 2006, operating it under the Andaz brand.[3] [4]

The hotel has been listed Grade II on the National Heritage List for England since March 1993.[5]

History

The Victorian building that houses the hotel is built on the site of England’s first hospital for the mentally ill, the Bethlehem Royal Hospital, which opened in 1247 and became known as ‘Bedlam’. Before a major refurbishment of the hotel in the 1990s, a plaque mentioning this historical reference was visible near the main entrance. [6][7]

The hotel was designed by the brothers Charles Barry, Jr. and Edward Middleton Barry. An additional section, the Abercorn Rooms, was added a decade later by Robert William Edis.[8] The hotel's clientele included business people who could avoid City traffic by staying near the railway station.[9] By 1908 the hotel was operating as the Liverpool Street Hotel and produced postcards advertising its proximity to the London Underground. A daily supply of fresh sea water for bathing was brought in by train.[10] The building is notable also for its inclusion of two Masonic Temples—an Egyptian temple in the basement and a Grecian temple on the first floor.[8] Caledonian Lodge 134, a lodge of Scottish Masons, met at the Eastern from 1920 to 1947.[11]

By the second half of the twentieth century the hotel was due for refurbishment and, following the redesign and improvement of the railway station in the 1980s,[12] it was expected that an investor would be found to accomplish a similar task with the adjacent hotel. The Manser Practice, which had already achieved success with the planning and construction of a Hilton Hotels & Resorts brand hotel on the south side of London Heathrow Airport,[13] was awarded the refurbishment contract in 1996.[14] A new lobby was created by removing several existing guest rooms, and the capacity was increased to 267 rooms by reusing attic space.[1] The Manser design was informed by the practice of daylighting, realised by providing lightwells in the ceiling of the lobby and in the main dining room and by providing as many views of London as possible in the bedrooms.[15]

Since 2006 the hotel has been owned by Hyatt, which operates it as Andaz London Liverpool Street, a 5 star luxury lifestyle hotel.

Facilities

The building (including the Abercorn Rooms) is of red brick with stucco and stone ground floor and mildly classical style dressings.[1] Of the 267 rooms, 15 are suites. Seven bars and restaurants are available on property, as well as a fitness center and steam room.

In literature

The Great Eastern is where vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing stays during his first visit to London in Bram Stoker's Gothic fiction horror novel Dracula.[16] The narrator of W. G. Sebald's Austerlitz meets the titular character in the bar of the Great Eastern after a twenty year separation; Austerlitz recounts details of the building including the Grecian temple.[17][18] [19]

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Riewoldt (2006), p. 112.
  2. ↑ Britten (2006), pp. 43–44.
  3. ↑ Yue, Lorene (14 February 2006). "Global Hyatt is buying London's Great Eastern Hotel". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  4. ↑ Our 5 Star Boutique Hotel in London Andaz Hotels; accessed 2013.04.18.
  5. ↑ Historic England, "Great Eastern Hotel (1252272)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 14 December 2017
  6. ↑ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3028511/From-Bedlam-Beyonce-s-London-hideaway-Inside-sleek-hotel-built-site-infamous-psychiatric-hospital.html. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ↑ http://www.guidedwalksinlondon.co.uk/blog/read_126509/andaz-hotel-afternoon-tea-bedlam-dracula-and-a-secret-masonic-temple.html. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. 1 2 Denby (1998), pp. 54–55.
  9. ↑ Porter & Prince (2008), p. 24.
  10. ↑ Tames (2006), p. 72.
  11. ↑ "Lane's Masonic Records 1717–1894". The Library and Museum of Freemasonry. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  12. ↑ Sutcliffe (2006), p. 191.
  13. ↑ "Heathrow Hilton". www.manser.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
  14. ↑ "Great Eastern Hotel". www.manser.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
  15. ↑ Phillips (2012), p. 102.
  16. ↑ Ridenhour (2012), p. 171.
  17. ↑ Denham & McCulloh (2006), p. 297.
  18. ↑ Long (2007), p. 151.
  19. ↑ Smith, Charles Saumarez (29 September 2001). "Observer review: Austerlitz by W. G. Sebald". The Observer. Retrieved 11 April 2013.

Bibliography

  • Britten, Fleur (2006). A Hedonist's Guide to London. A Hedonist's guide to London. ISBN 9781905428038.
  • Denby, Elaine (1998). Grand Hotels: Reality and Illusion. Reaktion. ISBN 978-1-86189-121-1.
  • Denham, Scott; McCulloh, Mark (2006). W. G. Sebald: History – Memory – Trauma. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-020194-9.
  • Long, J. J. (2007). W. G. Sebald: Image, Archive, Modernity. Columbia UP. ISBN 978-0-231-14512-1.
  • Phillips, Derek (2012). Daylighting: Natural Light in Architecture. Routledge. ISBN 9781136412004.
  • Porter, Darwin; Prince, Danforth (2008). Frommer's Portable London 2009. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9780470446669.
  • Ridenhour, Jamieson (2012). In Darkest London: The Gothic Cityscape in Victorian Literature. Scarecrow. ISBN 978-0-8108-8778-7. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  • Riewoldt, Otto (2006). New Hotel Design. Laurence King. ISBN 978-1-85669-479-7. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  • Sutcliffe, Anthony (2006). London: An Architectural History. Yale UP. ISBN 978-0-30011-006-7.
  • Tames, Richard (2006). London: A Cultural History. Oxford UP. ISBN 9780195309539.

Coordinates: 51°31′02″N 0°04′52″W / 51.517251°N 0.081054°W / 51.517251; -0.081054

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