The Lanesborough in London closed last December for a major renovation and will likely reopen at the end of this year. Managing Director Geoffrey Gelardi stopped by our offices last week to update us on this project, which includes major updates to the guest rooms, all public areas, back-of-the-house, elevators and air conditioning systems. The technology systems at the hotel are also being completely replaced and updated.
“It will be like a new hotel when we reopen,” Gelardi told us. The hotel’s interior design will still be Regency in style, however, the more masculine look, accentuated with dark woods, will change.“The fabrics and paint colors that we're using will lighten the hotel up and I think make it a little bit more feminine,” says Gelardi, who is overseeing the renovation. He also opened the hotel in 1991 when it was converted from a hospital to one of the top hotels in London.
The attention to detail is extreme. Ceilings, which Gelardi says admittedly “were always rather drab and flat, will now be phenomenal. They are all hand-painted, fibrous plasters are being made by specialists, and they will be quite spectacular.”
The hotel’s restaurant, Apsley’s, which opened in 2009, has also been gutted and will be completely redone. Gelardi was mum on the details of the new eatery, however.
The Lanesborough has always been known for its cutting-edge technology and is now upping its game by installing a fiber- optic distribution system that will be used for the first time in England. In-room technology will be divided into three components, a rooms-control system, an informational system (which can be used for e-mail and ordering room service, for example) and the television entertainment system that will allow you to access your Netflix account and files stored on your Apple products.