Legacy Is Our Future
The Landmark London was originally opened on the 1st July 1899 when rooms cost a mere three-and-sixpence a night and has established standards of luxury and magnificence ever since. The hotel was designed around a vast courtyard which allowed light and air into all the bedrooms. The courtyard was unique in London and it provided an extremely dramatic entrance and has awed guests for over a century with its glass-roof and airy interiour. It also allowed guests to be delivered by horse and carriage directly into the courtyard offering comfort and privacy.
The Landmark London’s illustrious legacy includes all the marks of greatness including an opening ceremony with members of the Royal Family, a charity event for St. Mary’s Hospital proceeding Alexander Flemings discovery of penicillin, a “Welcome Back from Prison” breakfast for the Suffragettes, the M19 debriefing of legendary British Lieutenant Airey Neave, to a major refurbishment by a Japanese Popstar. It must also be mentioned that the hotel has been known to have the inevitable ghost of a building that comes with such an illustrious heritage.
1895 – 1899
1895 – Sir John Blundell Maple who built the hotel also opened a furniture shop in The Great Central station (currently Marylebone station)
March 1899 – Great Central station (currently Marylebone station) opened to passengers in March 1899 the same year as The Great Central hotel (now known as The Landmark London)
June 1899 – The Great Central held a charity event and was opened by the Duchess of Fife, granddaughter of Queen Victoria
1st July 1899 – The Great Central hotel opened with 700 rooms and costing 3 shillings and sixpence (3/6) which current value is £93.86p
1901 – 1910
March 1901 – census for The Great Central lists Carl Schneider (hotel manager) Dorothy Schneider (housekeeper) 7 clerks, 1 cashier and 61 female servants.
August 1903 – Max Cowper illustration of carriages in the courtyard (which later and is still called the Winter Garden) was published in black and white.
July 1906 – a local resident Gertrude Wainwright actually gave birth to her son in The Great Central, how did she afford such extravagance?
1908 – The Great Central hotel held a welcome back from prison breakfast for Emmeline Pankhurst, daughter of Emily Pankhurst
Between 1902 and 1910, major changes were made to the design of the courtyard, the entrance of the courtyard was blocked up and the entire space was turned into a huge winter garden.
