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Hotel Café Royal
London, United Kingdom · Independent · Grand Luxury
French wine merchant Daniel Nicols founded the Café Royal on Regent Street in 1865 after fleeing bankruptcy with five pounds, and by the 1890s its cellar and Grill Room drew Oscar Wilde, Virginia Woolf, Winston Churchill, and Muhammad Ali. On 24 March 1895 Frank Harris urged Wilde there to drop his libel case against the Marquess of Queensberry; Wilde refused and was later imprisoned. David Chipperfield's Grade II conversion reopened the building as Hotel Café Royal in 2012 after a 200 million pound restoration for Alrov's Set Collection.
- 159 rooms
- Opened 2012
- Neighborhood: Mayfair
- Rooms from 355 sq ft (33 m²)
- Architect: David Chipperfield
About Hotel Café Royal
- Daniel Nicols arrived in Britain in 1863 with five pounds after French bankruptcy, changed his name from Thévenon, and built a wine cellar once rated among the greatest in the world.
- Frank Harris advised Oscar Wilde at the Café Royal on 24 March 1895 to abandon his libel suit against the Marquess of Queensberry; Wilde refused and was later convicted.
- From 1951 onward the Café Royal served as the home of the National Sporting Club.
- The Crown Estate sold a 125-year lease for 90 million pounds as part of Regent Street regeneration before the 2008 closure.
- Kanye West DJ'd a private party with Frank Ocean here in 2014, playing twenty new songs.
History
Daniel Nicholas Thévenon, a French wine merchant who fled bankruptcy, reached Britain in 1863 with his wife Célestine and five pounds. He restyled himself Daniel Nicols and opened the Café Royal on Regent Street in 1865. Under Nicols and later Célestine the cellar was counted among the world's finest, and by the 1890s the Grill Room was the place to be seen. Oscar Wilde, Aleister Crowley, Virginia Woolf, D. H. Lawrence, Winston Churchill, Noël Coward, George Bernard Shaw, and later Elizabeth Taylor and Muhammad Ali all used the rooms.
On 24 March 1895 Frank Harris met Wilde here and urged him to drop his criminal-libel case against the Marquess of Queensberry, father of Lord Alfred Douglas. Wilde refused. Queensberry was acquitted; Wilde was tried, convicted, and imprisoned. William Orpen painted the Café Royal in 1912. From 1951 it housed the National Sporting Club. David Locke bought it in 1972. The café closed in December 2008; fittings went to auction. The building is Grade II listed.
The Crown Estate sold a 125-year lease on number 68, part of a Regent Street regeneration, to Israel's Alrov Group (The Set Collection) for 90 million pounds. David Chipperfield Architects, with Donald Insall Associates, spent about 200 million pounds converting the listed interiors into a 159-room hotel, delayed a year by flooding and the complexity of the restoration. Hotel Café Royal opened in October 2012. The Grill Room still serves afternoon tea in the old café's gilded cage.
The setting
Hotel Café Royal is a Piccadilly address in London. The National Gallery is roughly 6 minutes' walk, and National Portrait Gallery is roughly 6 minutes' walk. This is Piccadilly and Regent Street, the circus-and-arcade edge of the West End, not Mayfair's residential squares.
Restaurants and bars
- Café Royal Grill — Café · Kevin Gratton
- Cakes & Bubbles — Restaurant · Desserts · Chef Albert Adrià
- Green Bar — Bar
- Alex Dilling restaurant — Restaurant · Modern French gastronomic · Chef Alex Dilling · Two MICHELIN Stars
Experiences
- London's Most Literary Afternoon Tea — Created with Hatchards, celebrating Oscar Wilde, Virginia Woolf and John le Carré, served in the historic Café Royal Grill.
- Akasha Holistic Wellbeing — The hotel's spa and exclusive wellbeing club, voted Time Out London's Best Hotel Spa 2025.
- David Bowie Afternoon Tea — An extravagant afternoon tea composed in Bowie's honour, nodding to the rock star's many eras.
- A Little Royal Afternoon Tea — A new afternoon tea created for younger guests, served in the Café Royal Grill.
- A Nutcracker Christmas — The 2025 festive offering inspired by The Nutcracker, transforming the hotel into a stage for winter wonder.
Amenities
- Spa
- Indoor pool
- Sauna
- Steam room
- Hot tub
- Fitness center
- Pet-friendly
Awards
- Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star (2026)
- MICHELIN Two Keys (2026)
- AA Five Red Stars (2025)
Open Hotel Café Royal in the atlas for live weekend rates, photos, and the full folio.
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