Transforming the more than 130-year-old Cadogan hotel, in the heart of London's fashionable Chelsea district, into a world-class luxury property took four years and cost 50 million dollars.
The ambitious renovation was finally completed on February 28, when the hotel opened its doors as the Belmond Cadogan Hotel.
And with that reopening, the hotel's rich history has taken on a new life.
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The Center of London's Social Scene
The remarkably elegant 54-room Cadogan, set on a charming corner where the leafy Sloane Street meets Pont Street, was the setting for a late-19th-century scandal involving Oscar Wilde and his male lover (more on that later).
Although the Cadogan first opened as a hotel in 1887, it sits within the 93-acre Cadogan Estate, whose history stretches back more than 300 years, according to estate archivist Kyra Charatan.
Hans Sloane, a celebrated physician whose patients included three monarchs, among them King George I, bought the estate in 1712 to house his collection of more than 70,000 objects, including books, drawings, coins and medals (they are now part of the collections of the British Museum, the British Library and London's Natural History Museum).
In 1717 his daughter Elizabeth married Baron Cadogan, a soldier and politician, and when the couple inherited the estate, it took on the Cadogan name.
From the very beginning, London's Chelsea drew creative people, and the Cadogan was the epicenter of that scene. "It was both a daring and a respectable place, where artists, writers and intellectuals met and mingled over dinner or a drink," Charatan says.
The actress and socialite Lillie Langtry, who lived at 21 Pont Street, a classic and well-known Chelsea address, was rumored to meet her lover, King Edward VII, at the hotel for secret trysts. When her house was later absorbed into the Cadogan's rooms (a blue plaque outside marks the fact), Langtry stayed as an overnight guest in Room 109.
The writers Bram Stoker and Mark Twain lived in the neighborhood and were likely bar regulars, but the most famous of them all was Oscar Wilde, who lived with his wife and two sons at 34 Tite Street, a 10-minute walk from the hotel.
The Tragedy of Oscar Wilde
Often entertaining friends at the bar in deep red and green velvet smoking jackets, the Irish playwright was a fixture at the Cadogan.
Even though Wilde lived nearby, Charatan says he would stay the night whenever his evenings stretched into the early morning.
Although rumors of Wilde's homosexuality circulated, his preference for his own sex did not become public until April 6, 1895, when he was arrested at the hotel.
His sexual orientation was illegal at the time, and Wilde, accused of "committing acts of gross indecency with other men," was taken into custody in Room 118.
According to Charatan, Wilde's affair with the son of the Marquess of Queensberry had come to light.
His arrest was immortalized in a tragic poem by poet laureate John Betjeman, "The Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel," written around 1933.
Wilde was one of the most brilliant personalities of his time, and his arrest and subsequent trial caused a sensation, Charatan says. He was convicted and sent to Reading Gaol outside London, where he spent two years at hard labor. "He died [of meningitis] soon after his release, his health broken and his reputation ruined," Charatan says.
His wife, humiliated by her husband's arrest and the scandal surrounding it, fled with their sons to Switzerland to start a new life.
The Cadogan Transformed
The hotel remained a popular gathering spot even after Wilde's arrest and kept a loyal group of regulars.
But over the years it fell into decline and stopped drawing the discerning travelers who sought the very best in accommodation.
Belmond's connection with the Cadogan began in 2014, when the luxury brand signed on to manage the hotel. The British hospitality company had long wanted a London address and saw the perfect opportunity in the Cadogan.
"We were very drawn to the hotel's location in a beautiful neighborhood and to its history," explains the hotel's general manager, Klaus Kabelitz.
When Belmond took over, the Cadogan was a cluster of five interconnected Queen Anne-style buildings with poor plumbing and no air conditioning. "It was a rambling British hotel with plenty of character but no luxury in terms of modern amenities," Kabelitz says.
It's All in the Details
Belmond's first step was to gut the interior entirely and connect the five buildings in a seamless way. Bay windows were added to let in plenty of natural light, and the once-tiny public areas were reworked into spacious gathering spots. Coral-toned carpets and more than 400 original works of art, mostly by British women artists, adorn the hotel's public spaces, which are open to the public.
The original hotel had a bank in the lobby, but during the renovation it was replaced with an inviting bar that evokes a chic early-20th-century English drinking den, with a white molded ceiling, wood paneling, red leather banquettes and green and red velvet armchairs that recall Wilde's attire.
Paying tribute to Wilde was a priority: his favorite Room 118 is now the hotel's Royal Suite. The most prestigious accommodation at the Cadogan (the nightly rate is 7,900 dollars) includes a large sitting room and a spacious wood-paneled dressing room.
The guest rooms are very British, Kabelitz says. There are wood floors, contemporary carpets in warm tones such as rust red, and elegant wooden furniture custom-made in England.
Bay windows with banquettes are another appealing touch, along with a collection of old-fashioned board games such as tic-tac-toe and mini-libraries of British literature curated in collaboration with the local independent bookshop John Sandoe Books.
"We tried to make the rooms feel like a cozy space in a family home," Kabelitz says.
Guests can book Langtry's Room 109 (now Room 106), which has direct access from the street.
The suite is filled with books by and about the famous author, and the bathroom has a bay window in front of a large tub overlooking the corner of Pont and Sloane streets.
The Sloane Street setting has become quite famous in its own right. In the 1970s and '80s, Sloane Square in Chelsea was known as the epicenter of a certain type of posh young Briton, the most famous of whom was Princess Diana, nicknamed the "Sloane Rangers." To this day, "Sloanies" is shorthand for members of wealthy, fashionable society.
The hotel's British character also comes through in the cuisine of chef Adam Handling. His traditional British cooking with a modern twist uses only British produce in its dishes. The a la carte menu features truffle custard with miso potato, peas and morels, king crab cooked in butter, and a Cornish baby leaf salad.
Finally, one of the Cadogan's standout features is guests' access to the private gardens and tennis courts that are part of the estate, a rare find at a big-city hotel.
A stay at the Belmond Cadogan is like stepping back in time, to the days when Lillie Langtry, Oscar Wilde and a whole cast of other colorful characters drank at the bar, took part in scandalous affairs and brought the hotel to life by their very presence.
It may have a new, polished look, but its history will live on forever.
And who knows what new chapter will be written in the years to come?
Belmond Cadogan Hotel, 75 Sloane Street, Chelsea, 800-237-1236
