This is the first look at the new Great Scotland Yard Hotel following a £50 million conversion.
The building was once the home of the Metropolitan Police, chosen by then home secretary Sir Robert Peel as its headquarters when it was formed in 1829. It has now been turned into a five-star hotel by Indian billionaire Yusuff Ali, who bought the site for £110 million in 2015. The building opens its doors today.
Its iconic green front doors — mentioned in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and Dickens — remain, and there are nods to the building’s law and order past throughout. Displays in the lobby include 19th century policing artefacts and an art display telling the story of the Great Scotland Yard site. Silkscreen prints include the faceless outlines of current Commissioner Cressida Dick and former prime minister and home secretary Theresa May.
The 40 Elephants bar is inspired by the infamous all-female syndicate of thieves who operated in London over two centuries. Best known for their smash-and-grab jobs, they were based in Elephant and Castle. The hotel, just off the Embankment, has 152 rooms and a stand-alone Georgian fronted townhouse available to book for £10,000 per night.
Some hotel bedrooms have carpets “integrating concepts of badges and police uniforms in the design”. Doors are decorated with the Met crest. The hotel’s medium-sized suites have four-poster beds and marble fireplaces. All food and drink, including 63-cover restaurant The Yard, will be overseen by chef Robin Gill.
Marketing manager, Sandra Demidoviciute, said: “It is a fantastic project that has so much history. We can’t wait to open our doors to London and the world.”
Room rates start from £430 inclusive of VAT (excluding breakfast).
Click through the gallery above to see more photos of the new Scotland Yard Hotel.
