The History of London's Hotels

In this article we will take a brief look at the history of hotels in London.
Before the 19th century there were few, if any, hotels in London. The relative lack of visitors to the capital by today’s standards meant that there simply wasn’t the demand for hotel accommodation.

Traditionally, those looking to stay in London had a choice between lodging houses and coaching inns.
Coaching Inns were particularly popular for those travelling by stage coach, before the advent of the railway network. Lodging houses were often run by widows and were more like the guest houses we know today, rather than independent hotels.

The most important period in the development of London’s Hotel’s was the Victorian era. This saw perhaps the capital’s most famous hotel, The Savoy, open its doors to guests for the first time in 1889. This was unique in that it was the first hotel in London to have a bathroom attached to every room. Following on from this, the now world-renowned Claridge’s and The Ritz opened shortly after.

Moving into the 20th century, the 2 world wars brought prosperity to the London hotel industry, fuelled by the large numbers of foreign visitors. The Dorchester was among the new hotels to spring up as a result of this.
The capital’s appeal as a tourist destination was strengthened in the 60s and seventies by the availability and affordability of air travel. By 1974, London was attracting over 6 million visitors a year. In order to meet the rising demand for beds, the Government introduced a Hotel Development Incentive scheme, which led to a drastic increase in the number of hotels built throughout the 1980s.

By the time recession had hit in the early 90’s, London was suffering the effects of the Gulf war and with International visitors reluctant to travel, tourist figures dwindled.

By the mid 90s, however, things started to improve, and with visitor numbers on the rise, the demand for beds was once again high. Together with the new trend of ‘open-plan’ working in the city’s workplaces, many of the capital’s offices were converted into hotels to meet with this demand.

The 90’s were a landmark period for London’s hotels with the opening of the first 5 star accomodation south of the Thames in the Marriot County Hall. This period also saw the opening of 2 new five star hotels in East London, the Four Seasons Canary Wharf and the Marriott West India Quay, close to the famous Canary Wharf development.
Today, London is as popular with visitors as it has ever been, but with the current economic downturn, more and more people are turning towards budget accommodation. For many years, Elysee hotel has met the demand for cheap, 3 star hotel accommodation in central London.