The site on which Brown’s Hotel London is located has a noble history dating back to 1660 when King Charles II returned, triumphant from his exile. During his absence Edward Hyde had remained one of his staunchest supporters and advisers; in recognition the king appointed him Earl of Clarendon and Lord Chancellor and gave him a land grant encompassing the area we now know as Mayfair. Clarendon built himself a grand residence on the site of today’s hotel and sold portions of the surrounding land to the Earl of Berkeley and the Earl of Cork and Burlington. Over the ensuing years the whole area underwent considerable development and was soon renowned for having the cream of society as its residents.
In 1837 James Brown acquired 23 Dover Street. The former valet of Lord Byron, whose wife, Sarah Willis, was Lady Byron’s personal maid, proceeded with his plan to develop a hotel and subsequently acquired the leases of numbers 21-24. These four adjacent town houses still make up the Dover Street frontage of our hotel. The hotel was bought by James John Ford in 1859 and extended to include St George’s Hotel on Albemarle Street, which backed on to the Dover Street property. It soon became recognised as the first luxury hotel and a place guaranteed to ensure comfort, privacy and understated service for its high-class guests - qualities that remain in place today.
The hotel has hosted many famous names and historic events: Alexander Graham Bell made the first telephone call in the UK from here in 1876; Brown’s was the first hotel to have a lift installed; Rudyard Kipling wrote many of his works at the hotel, having first visited in 1892; crime writer Agatha Christie was also inspired by the hotel; Theodore Roosevelt stayed here prior to his second marriage in 1886; and Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt spent part of their honeymoon here in 1905. Queen Victoria visited Brown’s, as did other members of European royalty including King George of the Hellenes, whilst he waited for the monarchy to be restored in Greece in 1935, and the Queen of the Netherlands. Sir Winston Churchill was a frequent visitor. During the Second World War the Dutch Government in exile declared war on Japan from Brown’s, an event which soon led to the occupation of the Dutch East Indies.