How would you like to host your next event surrounded by history, intrigue and mystery?
Imagine holding a conference in the very place where a great mystery was solved – or where inspiration struck for a novel that would become a classic of British literature. What if the very spot where you’re listening to a keynote or networking with peers once witnessed suspects being questioned in one of the world’s most infamous criminal cases?
Conference News had the chance to visit The Great Scotland Yard Hotel, a five-star property in Westminster housed in an 1820s Grade II listed building with Edwardian and Victorian architecture which offers secrets, stories and a distinctive setting for events that echo in mystery.
The famous address of a legendary site immersed in iconic British history – originally the HQ of the Metropolitan Police, it’s where Jack the Ripper suspects were interviewed, Charles Dickens shadowed officers here and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used it as a base for his detective tales. It was subsequently taken over by the Ministry of Defence and also used as the recruitment office during both World Wars.
It has been entirely rebuilt and extended by two floors to create 151 rooms and 7 suites, where no two rooms are the same. The ground floor provides a beckoning trove of food and beverage outlets, a cocktail bar, The 40 Elephants and afternoon tea lounge and The Parlour to the hidden speakeasy, Sibin. The hotel also features an adjacent five-storey detached private residence, The Townhouse, which sits on the site that was once home to H.R.H. The King of Scotland.
‘Service’ is the hotel’s flagship artwork. A bold installation exhibited in the hotel’s entrance hall, this work tells the extraordinary story of Great Scotland Yard through thirty portraits and establishes the narrative and themes that continue throughout the hotel.
Each portrait has been judiciously selected by Nicole Green to tell the multi-layered history of Great Scotland Yard. Through extensive research, Green chose a range of diverse characters including notorious gangsters and infamous criminals, prominent judges, lawyers and politicians, police personnel, literary figures and monarchs from the 12th Century to the present day, who all serve as the embodiment of the incredible history of this London landmark.
Paying homage to its roots, guests can absorb London’s rich heritage and anecdotes from the stolen artefacts from yesteryear presented under glass table tops, to the specially commissioned artworks by current prisoners, on display, curated by Koestler Arts – a charity that helps ex-offenders, secure patients and detainees in the UK, to express themselves creatively.
