De Keyser's Hotel
of Thames Embankment, London
Founded before 1845 by Constant de Keyser, an immigrant to England from Belgium. It was a high-end hotel, catering mainly to visitors from continental Europe. His son Polydore de Keyser ran the hotel from around 1856.
A new hotel building with five storeys and two basements was opened at the same site on 5 September 1874, designed by the Scottish architect Edward Augustus Gruning.
A second wing opened in 1882, when the hotel became the largest in London, accommodating up to 480 guests, with a second dining room for another 250 people, and rooms for 150 staff.
1920 '...have sold to Lord Leverhulme on behalf of the vendors the well-known De Keyser's Royal Hotel, London, at the Blackfriars end of the Thames Embankment. It is understood that it is the intention to concentrate the various London departments of Lever Brothers (Limited), which are housed in various parts of the Metropolis, in these spacious premises, and it is the hope and intention of the firm to enter into occupation in November next. The hotel, which thus passes away, had some curious vicissitudes during the war. It was one of the first of the London Hotels to be commandeered by the Government, being taken over by the War Office in May 1916. As Adastral House, it became the headquarters of the Air Force, continuing so until the formation of the Air Ministry and the taking over of the Hotel Cecil. Afterwards it became a home for oddments of War Office staffs.'[1]
1931 The hotel building was demolished to make way for the construction of Unilever House.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The Scotsman - Thursday 23 September 1920