Dukes Hotel
Hotel in London, United Kingdom
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dukes Hotel, now known just as Dukes, is a luxury 90 room/suite hotel at 35 and 36 St James's Place, London, founded in 1908.[1] Previous guests have included the composer Edward Elgar, the author Ian Fleming, and various members of the British royal family.
| Dukes Hotel | |
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General information | |
| Location | 35 and 36 St James's Place, St James's, London, England |
| Coordinates | 51.5055°N 0.1395°W |
| Opening | 1908 |
| Operator | Seven Tides International |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 90 |
| Website | |
| www.dukeshotel.com | |
History
The close in which the hotel is situated was once known as Cleveland Court,[2] which was named after Cleveland House, the London residence of the Duchess of Cleveland, a mistress of Charles II.[3] In 1801, Henry Thomas Austen, brother of the novelist Jane Austen, had offices in Cleveland Court.[4]
Hotel and bar
According to The Daily Telegraph, the hotel is "reassuringly old-fashioned".[1] Jack Brooksbank, Princess Eugenie's husband, is reported to have told Richard Eden, the Daily Mail's royalty editor, that there is a secret tunnel from the nearby St James's Palace to Dukes Bar.[5][6] From the hotel itself, Dukes Bar is accessed via "a small, unmarked door".[7] The clientele were once described as a typical Mayfair set: "wealthy, tawdry, and slightly disreputable" but fading into the background after a couple of the bar's martinis.[8]
Guests
Past guests have included the composer Edward Elgar, who often visited,[9] and the James Bond author Ian Fleming who frequented Dukes Bar where he decided that Bond's favoured drink would be a vodka martini, "shaken, not stirred".[9][6] The Vesper Martini is the Dukes Bar "signature drink" and includes five shots of gin, with a two-drink limit; any attempt to purchase a third one will be declined.[9][6]
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother is rumoured to have been a regular,[6] as well as Diana, Princess of Wales, who had "a small table in the drawing room permanently reserved" for afternoon tea.[10]
