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Wednesday, 16 March 2011

A Victorian Beauty

The St Pancras Renaissance Hotel will open its doors to the public 5 May 2011.
Originally the Midland Grand Hotel opened by Queen Victoria 5 May 1873, this stunning Gothic building was nearly demolished several times.
Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman led a protest in the 1960's to save the building. A statue of him stands in the Eurostar rail station next door.

Following a £150 million refurbish it has now been beautifully restored to its Victorian glamour. This is one of the smaller staircases. The grand staircase is regarded as the most majestic in England.
I'll bring you more in the weeks to come.

18 comments:

  1. Wow!!!
    I love that period!

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  2. Good ol' JB!!! Well worth saving in spite of the cost.

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  3. There was an article in one of the weekend papers about this hotel. It really is magnificent! I look forward to more of your photos:-)

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  4. Wow, this is gorgeous! I can't wait to see more.

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  5. Its grand staircase must be exceptional to beat the staircase in the Foreign Office.
    Further interior views of St Pancras/Midland Grand Hotel can be gleaned from The Spice Girls' first video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJLIiF15wjQ&feature=related

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  6. Lovely! There are many places that were pulled down in the name of progress & modernism, thank goodness this wasn't one of them!

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  7. Looking forward to more!!

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  8. molto belloe....lussuoso. ciao elisabetta

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  9. Great shot of a wonderful staircase.

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  10. I had to deliver there in the early eighties when BT or was it BR, had cables all over the place. In spite of the grime, the decay and lack of care the quality shone through the dank dark walls. That staircase was magnificent then and must be fantastic now!

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  11. Our heritage is so important! We need to save all of our historic buildings of worth. Yay for Betjeman!

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  12. What a gorgeous building! I definitely prefer it to 'The Shard'.

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  13. It does indeed look handsome. Nice photo, Mo. I look forward to seeing more in the coming weeks. (150 million pounds? Wow!)

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  14. WOW !!:)
    This is what you told me about...
    A SUPERB shot of a very very elegant place!

    Gunn / Stavanger / Norway

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  15. How stunning! I certainly look forward to seeing the rest of your photos of this grand old place.

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  16. This is a wonderful outcome. The building is so impressive from the outside.

    The last time I was in London it was surrounded with fencing and looked quite forlorn, but that was during the Eurostar station construction several years ago.

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