The Langham, London - history since the 1930s
Article added on February 6, 2004

Time left its toll in the hotel building and the surroundings changed. Across the street, the Broadcasting House, the headquarters of the BBC was built. In 1929-1930, Barclays built a important branch of their bank next door to the hotel. Nine years later, cracks began to appear in the walls of The Langham. The London County Council pronounced "parts of the hotel seriously defective". The hotel builders could not foresee the vibrations and shocks the 20th century would bring. Because of the London underground railway, the hotel had to strengthen the foundations, walls and pillars of The Langham in 1931.
 
The 1929 crash and the following economic depression hit the hotel hard. By 1934, for the first time in its history, its shares traded below par. The nearby BBC realized it needed more space and wanted to purchase the hotel in financial difficulty. Because the price offered was too low, the hotel continued to struggle on. The guests never learnt of the difficulties and continued to book the hotel, which was particularly popular during the Chelsea Flower Show as well as the Eton and Harrow cricket match.
 
In the 1930's, the hotel grew a little shabbier, the standards of cuisine however remained high thanks to Marius Dutrey once one of London's greatest chefs. Weddings still took place, since the law demanded that bride and groom live in the vicinity of All Souls Church for three nights before the marriage could take place.

Among the famous people who visited the Langham Hotel in the 1920s and 1930s was the actor and playwright Noel Coward, a man with "A talent to amuse", as he said about himself. He brought other British film stars to the hotel, e.g. the actresses Anna Neagle, Gracie Fields and the actor Charles Laughton (1899-1962). Today, there is still a suite named after him.

When the Australian cricket team with the most brilliant and consistent batsman ever, Captain Don Bradman (b. 1908), came to England, they chose The Langham as their base. The writer and Nobel Prize for Literature winner in 1932, John Galsworthy (1867-1933), immortalized the hotel in fiction.
 
During her courtship by Edward VIII, Mrs. Wallis Simpson stayed at The Langham. Her visits required discretion and the British press maintained a voluntary censorship, organized by Lord Beaverbrook, tycoon and personal friend of the uncrowned king. The public knew little about was happening until Edward's poignant radio broadcast in which he told his subject that he could not continue as their monarch without the "help and support of the woman I love." The coronation of the Duke of Windsor's brother, George VI, took place on May 12, 1937 the same date as had been fixed for the abdicated king. From May 10 to 17, The Langham organized an entire week of coronation festivities, including gala dinner, dances and concerts. On coronation day alone, one thousand special trains arrived in London.
 
In September 1939, the British declared war on Germany. Room 24 on the Langham's mezzanine floor was turned into a local first aid post. The hotel's manager, Captain Hills, went off to war. Major Thomas became acting manager. During the Second World War, the hotel did reasonable business. Guests were required to dine early since the BBC building opposite the street was a prime target. During "The Phoney War" no more than a quarter of guests would bother to use the shelter in the basements if there was a night raid.
 
With the country at war, the hotel's clientele changed. The traditional English guests remained in the safe countryside, the American and European tourists stayed away. They were replaced by officers on leave, the wartime staff of the BBC and those who went to the studio to broadcast.
 
When the French surrendered, the little known and self proclaimed "General" Charles de Gaulle arrived in London and invited French officers and soldiers on the British territory to join him. The man who later became President of France stayed briefly at The Langham.

Late in the summer of 1940, the hotel was completely evacuated twice when the level of German air raids increased. On September 16, 1940 a bomb dropped by the Luftwaffe hit one of the towers of The Langham, wrecking much of the West Wing. The novelist and playwright J. B. Priestley, the most prolific broadcaster during the war, stayed at the hotel. An urgent call from Canada House asking for a special talk to the Canadians on the Blitz saved his life since his room was destroyed by the bomb. Four days later, an incendiary bomb started a fire in the roof of the hotel. A third bomb caused additional damage on December 8, 1940.

In 1943, the BBC needed additional space and planned to buy The Langham. The hotel company wanted more money than was offered and the BBC shelved the proposed purchase. The Langham was to survive the war. John Nash's All Souls Church, however, was badly damaged by a bomb in 1940, but completely restored in 1951.
 
After the Second World War, it was estimated that only eleven out of the 110 hotels listed by Baedeker in 1900 still existed. The Langham was among the ones that closed. In 1945, permission was given to the hotel to be used for offices. The BBC took over the south and west side, the ground floor and basement. Unwanted hotel furniture and effects were auctioned off. They realized that 49 of the hotels pianos had disappeared during the war. The hotel's share capital and the stuff club funds had disappeared during the war.

In 1982, the BBC considered demolishing the old hotel. The plan was abandoned in 1985, when the company decided to build a new center at White City. The Ladbroke Group PLC purchased the building in 1986. After the group acquired Hilton International in 1987, the listed property was to be restored to its original Victorian splendor by the architects Halpern Partnership. The renovation was supervised by the building group Bovis, assisted by consultant engineers Ove Arup & Partners. 410 bedrooms and 50 suites, conference and banqueting facilities, restaurants and a business center were created. Unfortunately, the original artesian well could no longer be used for the freshwater supply, the 200-odd foot steep shaft was sealed off.
 
The Langham Hilton opened on March 4, 1991 with all the facilities and the comfort of a modern five star hotel. Wherever possible, the interior designers Richmond Design Group retained original features, with the assistance of English Heritage, the government agency responsible for the maintenance and restoration of historic buildings.
 
The style adopted by the designers for the hotel is that of the late 19th century. Among the preserved details is the stone fireplace bought in the 1920s by architect Ernest Lord from a 17th century country house to create the look of the Italian renaissance. It has been cleaned and re-set in the Chukka Bar. The ceiling in the Memories of the Empire restaurant is of a traditional Victorian design, akin to an Owen Jones concept. It was painted by hand in 1990, as it was by artists in 1865.

The official opening of the Langham Hilton was by Gloria Hunniford, a radio and television personality, whose live two-hour program on BBC's Radio 2 that day was devoted to the hotel and its history. The first general manager was Austrian Rudi Jagersbacher, recruited from Claridges. In 1993, he was followed by Michael Shepherd.

In 1991, Diana, the Princess of Wales started becoming a regular guest - making the first official royal visit to the hotel only days after it opened. Other Royal visitors include the Duchess of Kent and Duke of Edinburgh. The then British Prime Minister John Major also attended dinners at the hotel, which hosted numerous politicians around the world. Novelist Dame Barbara Cartland, tennis star Steffi Graf, singer Rod Stewart, film director Sir Richard Attenborough and many others have been among the hotel visitors and guests since 1991.

The old Langham had a long association with London's Jewish community. In 1905, for instance, the Jewish National Fund  founded its British branch at the hotel. The Langham Hilton was keen to pursue the old Jewish connection, naming a suite after Theodor Herzl (1860-1904), who in 1897 had organized the first Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland and who had often stayed at the old hotel. The Langham Hilton, supervised by the Sephardi Kashrut Authority, set up a kosher kitchen with its own utensils. The hotel is a famous venue for Jewish weddings with the ceremony taking place in the Palm Court.
 
When I stayed at the hotel in January 2004, a Muslim conference was taking place at The Langham Hilton and the Royal Suite was occupied by a prince and his family from the Arab world.

The London Langham is located on Regent Street, in the heart of London's West End, in walking distance from the shopping areas of Regent, Oxford and Bond Street. The Oxford Circus Underground station is some 100 meters away.

Continued: Back to Part 1 + Part 2.

The façade of the Langham. Photo © The Langham, London.




View of a guest room. Photo © The Langham, London.


The Infinity Suite Lounge. Photo © The Langham, London.




The Artesian Bar. Photo © The Langham, London.

Source, literature, further reading
Tom Steel: The Langham, est. 1865: A History, 1990. The article on the left is closely based on Tom Steel's history of The Langham. - The whereabouts of the records of the old Langham Hotel Company remains a mystery.