London Hilton on Park Lane
London Hilton on Park Lane Hotel
London Hilton on Park Lane is located in Central London
London Hilton on Park Lane
London Hilton on Park Lane
Location within Central London
Hotel chainHilton Hotels & Resorts
General information
TypeHotel
Classification
LocationLondon, W1K 1BE
United Kingdom
Address22 Park Lane
Coordinates51°30′20″N 0°09′02″W / 51.505512°N 0.150423°W / 51.505512; -0.150423
Opening17 April 1963
OwnerHilton Inc.
Technical details
Floor count28
Design and construction
Architect(s)William B. Tabler
Other information
Number of rooms453
Number of suites56
Website
Official Site

The London Hilton on Park Lane is a hotel situated on Park Lane, overlooking Hyde Park in the exclusive Mayfair district of London. It is 100 metres (328 ft) tall, has 28 storeys and 453 rooms including 56 suites and a Michelin starred restaurant Galvin at Windows on the top floor of the hotel.

History

The hotel opened as the London Hilton on 17 April 1963.[1] It is a concrete-framed building, designed by William B. Tabler, an American architect who designed numerous Hilton hotels. The building was the first skyscraper hotel to be built in London, containing more than 500 bedrooms and six restaurants.

On 24 August 1967, the Beatles met Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at the Hilton and subsequently went to Uttar Pradesh with him in order to meditate.[2]

On 5 September 1975, the London Hilton was the target of an IRA bomb which killed two people and injured 63 others.[3]

During the 1990s, the Pools Panel met each Saturday in a meeting room in the hotel.[4]

A fire broke out in the hotel on 1 July 2011. There were no fatalities or injuries, and damage was limited to a few of the lower floors.[5]

The London Hilton Park Lane served as the Olympic Family Hotel during the 2012 London Olympics, hosting members of the International Olympic Committee and other dignitaries attending the 2012 Games.

The hotel is also the site of the death of the Cranberries lead singer Dolores O'Riordan on 15 January 2018, aged 46. She had drowned in her room's bathtub after drinking an excessive amount of alcohol.[6]

On 28 November 2022, Trader Vic's Worldwide announced the closure of their oldest running location inside of the London Hilton Park Lane.[7] This sparked an online campaign try and revert the decision made by the Hilton, due to the valuable Polynesian interior that predated the hotel. The campaign was led by an online petition [8] which received over 7500 signatures, and an Instagram page.[9] There was also a community Facebook group. Many celebrities became involved with the campaign, including presenter Jonathan Ross, and filmmaker Edgar Wright who both made statements in support of keeping the restaurant open. The restaurant closed on 31 December 2022 with no comment from the Hilton regarding the campaign.

See also

References

  1. "Hilton Press Center". newsroom.hilton.com.
  2. "The Beatles meet Maharishi Mahesh Yogi". The Beatles Bible. 24 August 1967.
  3. "1975: Bomb blasts rock Northern Ireland". BBC News. 22 September 1975.
  4. Baker, Andrew (27 March 1994). "Almanack: Pools panel draw a veil". The Independent. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  5. "Guests back in Hilton Hotel in Mayfair after fire". BBC News. 2 July 2011.
  6. Simpson, Fiona (6 September 2018). "Cranberries singer 'drowned in bath after drinking excessive alcohol'". Evening Standard.
  7. "Trader Vic's on Instagram: "To our loyal and amazing fans and family, I wanted to address some rumors that have begun swirling around the last few days. First, the good news. Our flagship Emeryville location isn't going anywhere, so we hope you are ready for even bigger and more fun celebrations. Now, the bad. We just learned, like most of you, that London Hilton Park Lane has decided to renovate, and unfortunately (for now), we will be shutting the doors on January 1st, 2023. More info to come. But I wanted to say from the bottom of my heart how much we appreciate and love all of you. Rhett Rosen CEO Trader Vic's Worldwide #TraderVics #TraderVicsLondon"". Instagram. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  8. "Trader Vic's: Campaigners Rally to Have 1960s Tiki Bar Listed Before It Gets Ripped Out". 19 December 2022.
  9. "SAVE TRADER VICS LDN! (@savetradervicsldn) • Instagram photos and videos". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
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