Hotel Café Royal#Restoration and conversion

The establishment was originally conceived and set up in 1865 by Daniel Nicholas Thévenon, who was a French wine merchant. He had to flee France due to bankruptcy, arriving in Britain in 1863 with his wife, Célestine, and just five pounds in cash. He changed his name to Daniel Nicols and under his management - and later that of his wife - the Café Royal flourished and was considered at one point to have the greatest wine cellar in the world.

By the 1890s the Café Royal had become the place to see and be seen at. Its patrons have included Oscar Wilde,{{cite news|author=Guy Deghy and Keith Waterhouse|publisher=Hutchinson & Co|title=Café Royal – Ninety Years of Bohemia |year=1955}} Aleister Crowley,Howard, Michael (February 2010). "A Seeker's Journey", in The Cauldron #135. Virginia Woolf, D. H. Lawrence, Winston Churchill, Noël Coward, Brigitte Bardot, J. Paul Getty, Mary Teissier, Max Beerbohm, George Bernard Shaw, Jacob Epstein, Mick Jagger, Elizabeth Taylor, Muhammad Ali and Diana, Princess of Wales. The café was the scene of a famous meeting on 24 March 1895, when Frank Harris advised Oscar Wilde to drop his charge of criminal libel against the Marquess of Queensberry, father of Alfred Douglas. Wilde refused the advice, Queensberry was acquitted, and Wilde was subsequently tried, convicted and imprisoned.{{cite book |last= Belford |first= Barbara |title=Oscar Wilde: A Certain Genius |year= 2000 |publisher= Random House |location= New York |isbn= 0-679-45734-8 |page= 251 }} From 1951, the Café Royal was the home of the National Sporting Club. It was bought by David Locke in 1972.

Prominent personalities continued to host important events through the early 21st century at the establishment. Kanye West played 20 new songs in 2014 when he DJ'ed at a private party with Frank Ocean at the Café Royal.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bet.com/article/lqasqz/report-kanye-west-plays-20-new-songs-in-london-club|title=Report: Kanye West Plays 20 New Songs in London Club |work= BET.com |access-date= 2016-10-18}} At a private after-party for the British Fashion Awards, hosted by Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell at Café Royal, guests in attendance included Harry Styles, Cara Delevingne and Rihanna.{{Cite news|url=http://www.eonline.com/news/602487/harry-styles-flirts-with-kendall-jenner-while-partying-with-cara-delevingne-rihanna-more-in-london-get-the-details|title=Harry Styles Reunites & Flirts With Kendall Jenner in London|last=Cooper|first=Jennifer|date=2 December 2014|newspaper=E! Online|language=en-US|access-date=2016-10-18}}

Café Royal closed in December 2008.{{cite news |first=Jonathan |last=Browning |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=auCYMcrX9JmA |title=London's Cafe Royal Closes: Farewell to Scandal, Wilde, Murder |publisher=Bloomberg |date=18 December 2008 |access-date=4 December 2009}} The fittings and furniture were later sold at auction.{{cite news |title=Cafe Royal memorabilia goes under hammer |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/4300437/Cafe-Royal-memorabilia-goes-under-hammer.html |work=The Daily Telegraph|date=20 January 2009 |access-date=4 December 2009}}{{cite news |first=Stephen |last=Bates |title=Cafe Royal party is over as 143 years of high society goes under the hammer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/dec/23/cafe-royal-auction |work=The Guardian |date=23 December 2008 |access-date=5 December 2009}} The building is a grade II listed building, which will protect its architecturally significant features and fixtures.

David Chipperfield Architects, with Donald Insall Associates, restored and transformed the building into a hotel with 159 rooms and historic suites, an array of dining rooms and bars, a private members club, meeting rooms, ballroom and a wellbeing spa and gym with 18-metre pool.{{cite news| url= http://www.thehandbook.com/news/caf%C3%A9-royal| work= The Handbook | title=Café Royal A Very Fashionable Launch | date=11 December 2012}} The Grill Room provides a traditional afternoon tea service.{{cite news |title=Afternoon Tea At Oscar Wilde's Favorite Bar |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanneshurvell/2017/11/29/afternoon-tea-at-oscar-wildes-favorite-bar/ |access-date=3 July 2022 |work=Forbes}} Hotel Cafe Royal is part of The Set Collection which includes sister hotels the Conservatorium Hotel in Amsterdam and the Hotel Lutetia in Paris.{{Cite web |title=The Set Collection announces eight new member properties joining its luxury representation portfolio |url=https://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4118118.html |access-date=2023-10-30 |website=Hospitality Net |language=en-us}}

Image:William Orpen The Café Royal, London.jpg|The Café Royal, London (William Orpen, 1912)

Image:Conference at the Café Royal, London in 1947.jpg|Conference at the Café Royal restaurant in 1947

{{Reflist}}

• {{Official website|http://www.hotelcaferoyal.com/}}
• [http://patrickbaty.co.uk/2010/11/26/cafe-royal-2/ A brief history and an account of the recent analysis of the decoration.]

{{Hotels in London}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Restaurants in London}}

Category:Michelin-starred restaurants in London

Category:French restaurants in the United Kingdom

Category:Restaurants established in 1865

Category:1865 establishments in England

Category:Grade I listed buildings in the City of Westminster

cafe Royal

Cafe Royal