by Annabelle Hood, www.luxuryjournalist.com
Last week was the glittering opening party of London’s most hautely anticipated luxury hotel restoration, the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel London at King’s Cross St. Pancras station (from where jet-setters can board the Eurostar train to Paris, Lille and Brussels). The building took years to restore to the tune of £150 million ($250 million), making it one of London’s most iconic hotels.
Guests included actor Adrien Brody who had dropped by en route to Cannes, Ed Westwick from “Gossip Girl,” Paul Weller’s daughter Leah, and author Toby Young was spotted chatting with English TV presenter Ben Fogle. We were greeted by A Capella singers, statuesque Belle Epoque dancers, an all-female string quartet and a live piano performance by Jamie Cullum, who had the audience singing in harmony in the hotel’s central hall. The Perrier-Jouet Champagne flowed – this is currently London’s hottest champagne label, which last month celebrated its 200th anniversary with the launch of a Perrier-Jouët Champagne Lounge at London’s Dukes Hotel in London’s rich Mayfair area.
The distinctive High Victorian Gothic St Pancras Renaissance building, originally The Midland Grand designed and built by Victorian architect Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1853, has been painstakingly restored by Manhattan Loft Corporation in collaboration with London & Continental Railways.
Its gold-leaf vaulted ceilings and trompe l’oeil murals were breathtaking, but all eyes were on the famous central staircase, featured in Batman and the Spice Girl’s debut single ‘Wannabe’ video. www.stpancrasrenaissance.com
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