St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel

I toured a recently renovated historic hotel in London with the Petroleum Women's Club thinking it would just be some interesting architecture to look at. Lo and behold, I was surprised to find I was walking on the same ground as royalty and pop stars.

St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel

The hotel was built in 1873 adjacent to the St. Pancras Railway Station. Today the Eurostar trains that travel to the European continent through the English Channel tunnel depart from St. Pancras.

The original hotel was luxurious with new innovations such as hydraulic elevators, revolving doors, and concrete floors. While every room had a fireplace, none of the rooms had bathrooms, but that was normal for the time.

The hotel closed in 1935 and sat mostly empty or used by British Rail for offices until the restored hotel opened in 2011. Luckily it was not torn down, and during the renovation original stenciling and paint work that had been painted over was uncovered.

Our tour group in the hotel lobby

Our Tour Guide

A few days before our tour, Prince Charles and Camilla had been at the hotel, shown around by our same tour guide. He remarked that they seem to have a very comfortable and compatible relationship.

Our tour guide with Camilla and Prince Charles

We got to walk up the original grand staircase. When I got home I looked up the Spice Girls "Wannabe" music video shot right there on the same staircase in 1996. 

Spice Girls on Grand Staircase

Among the famous guests of the hotel was American railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, my son now attends Vanderbilt University.

I love finding connections to places I've visited. My visit to a historic building turned out to have some interesting modern-day connections.