Big news from London today: The Oetker Collection is advancing into the United Kingdom for the first time to manage the historic Lanesborough Hotel.
Under Oetker Collection management, the Lanesborough will re-open as a "masterpiece hotel" in spring 2015. We hear the renovation will maintain the hotel's signature style created by late interior designer Alberto Pinto. Even better: Managing Director Geoffrey Gelardi, who began his role in 1990, will continue to run the hotel on a daily basis.
What to expect: Guests can dine at Apsleys from breakfast to dinner, (and, of course, they can try the Lanesborough Afternoon Tea). Next to Apsleys, the Withdrawing Room and the Library bar house the "Liquid History," a collection of vintage cognacs. (We hear some of these are more than 200 years old.) Tucked away at the rear of the hotel, guests can unwind in the Garden Room, the first cigar terrace in Knightsbridge. Good to know: For special functions, The Lanesborough has seven individually designed private dining rooms, the largest accommodating 180 guests for a reception.
The Lanesborough overlooks Hyde Park Corner near Buckingham Palace and has been closed since the end of 2013 for complete renovation. It has 93 rooms and suites as well as a spa and extensive dining options.
"London is one of the most exciting cities in the world and certainly a strategic destination for Oetker Collection," Oetker Collection CEO Frank Marrenbach said in a statement. "The Lanesborough will be the perfect sister hotel to Le Bristol Paris, offering two major luxury establishments on each side of the Channel."
The Oetker Collection owns and manages eight hotels worldwide, in addition to The Lanesborough – Le Bristol Paris, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Chateau Saint-Martin & Spa, Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa, Eden Rock - St. Barths, Fregate Island Private, Palais Namaskar, and L'Apogee Courchevel. Villa Stephanie at Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa will open in January 2015.