Tucked away on Albemarle Street in the genteel heart of Mayfair, Brown’s Hotel doesn’t shout for attention, it simply expects it. And really, it can afford to. Since opening its doors in 1837, Brown’s has been quietly collecting legends, literary giants, royalty, and more than a few delicious scandals.
It began life as a series of elegant townhouses owned by a former butler and his wife, Mr and Mrs Brown, who had the radical idea that wealthy travellers might enjoy something warmer and more personal than a stuffy gentleman’s club. The gamble paid off. Brown’s became London’s first “proper” hotel, where guests could stay in private rooms and still enjoy impeccable service, a roaring fire, and a stiff drink when required.
But Brown’s didn’t just host history, it helped write it.
Rudyard Kipling lived here on and off and it is said that it was in a room at Brown’s that he finished The Jungle Book.
Agatha Christie had long been a Brown’s regular and the hotel features in her novel The Secret of Chimneys. To this day, Brown’s proudly serves afternoon tea in her honour.
Brown’s has always had a knack for attracting powerful people with complicated lives.
King George V and Queen Mary stayed here, as did Theodore Roosevelt and Napoleon III. Apparently, Winston Churchill and General Dwight D. Eisenhower used to meet at Brown’s to discuss D-Day, the invasion of Normandy.
There’s also a rumour that Churchill was rather fond of the hotel’s Martini and that the bar staff knew to keep them coming whenever the war was going badly.
One of the most famous incidents to take place at the hotel happened in 1876 when the inventor Alexander Graham Bell checked into Brown’s Hotel carrying a new invention – the telephone. From his bedroom at Brown’s, Bell made Britain’s first telephone call to his assistant, Thomas Watson in another part of the hotel, speaking the words: “Mr Watson, are you there?”
So next time you pass down Albemarle Street, remember that behind those polite Georgian windows, history was made, novels were written, wars planned, queens entertained, and a great many martinis consumed. Not bad for a place that started with a butler and a good idea.
Courtesy of Wikipidea. Browns Hotel, Mayfair, London, England. Image by Londonmatt. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.