Grosvenor Housecasts GrosvenorHousecasts

General Manager, Stuart Bowery, and longstanding friend of Grosvenor House, Gyles Brandreth turn back the pages of the hotel’s past. Together, they revisit profound moments and personal memories that make up Grosvenor House’s illustrious 95-year history as Park Lane’s first hotel.

Grosvenor House has long been favoured by royalty, hosting a celebratory Coronation Ball for King George VI in 1937 and the Coronation Year Ladies' Night for Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 to grand occasions in the Great Room including Queen Charlotte’s debutante balls and the Royal Caledonian Ball. In celebration of the Coronation year, this episode takes a deep dive into the hotel’s royal connections over the past 90 years, continuing the rich legacy to this day.

How does a hotel of Grosvenor House’s scale and grandeur operate day to day? Hear from those at the very heartbeat of a fascinating 24-hour operation, from hotel deliveries and fresh floral arrangements in the early hours of the morning, to delivering decadent breakfasts and Afternoon Tea, the Grosvenor House wheels never stop turning.

As day turns to night, Grosvenor House comes alive with thousands of people drinking, dining and socialising across its 496 rooms, suites, Great Room, ballroom, restaurants and bars. This episode shares how the hotel delivers five-star service to its guests, from BAFTA and Pride of Britain Award dinners to vintage Bourbon nightcaps and cocktails in the Red Bar.

Grosvenor House was designed and built with the vantage point of Hyde Park as inspiration. The hotel’s most recent renovation conveys a refined British elegance and décor based on neighbouring Hyde Park, seasonal colours and leaf patterns. There is even a bespoke Grosvenor House rose garden growing in Hyde Park, cementing the hotel’s life-long connection to it.

“A hotel as modern as tomorrow, still with time for yesterday.” That’s how Gyles Brandreth describes the home of some of the grandest of events and society gatherings for royalty, dignitaries and celebrities at Grosvenor House. From Barack Obama and Frank Sinatra to a young Queen Elizabeth learning to ice skate in the Great Room, Gyles revisits some of the greatest of hotel gatherings over the last 90 years.