The Melia White House Hotel
ALBANY STREET REGENTS PARK
LONDON NW1 3U
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The site of Meliá White House has long been an area of interest. Prior to 1930 many famous artists, composers, and writers including Charles Dickens, William Behnes, Samuel Cousins and Hector Berlioz lived in the area.
All the houses surrounding Albany Street and Osnaburgh Street were demolished in 1935 in order to make way for: “A magnificent new building of modern, economical and luxurious flats or now known as the Melia White House
"The Meliá White House"
The Meliá White House was first opened in 1936 as an apartment building comprised of 758 luxury, furnished or unfurnished, apartments. For the princely sum of approximately £350,000 it took seven hundred men to build it in under a year. The building featured an imposing entrance hall, which opened into a sumptuous lounge, leading to the restaurant, swimming pool and squash courts. Other public areas included a Bar, Delicatessen, Newsagents, Chemist, Hairdresser, Valet and Dry Cleaners, and a spectacular roof garden. To avail these exclusive facilities also to non-residents the quickly renowned White House Club was launched. At this time The White House establishing itself as one of the most exclusive addresses in London.
September 1939 marked the outbreak of World War II and London was heavily bombed, destroying large parts of the city. The White House, due to the building’s unique shape, was used by the aggressor as a compass to help them find their bearings and was consequently never bombed.
Throughout the 1950’s The White House Club flourished. As new facilities were introduced, the numbers of members grew. The White House Club now boasted a billiard room, television theatre and an Aeratone bath (a 1950’s Jacuzzi). In 1959 The White House, under new ownership, began a fourteen-year transformation from an apartment building into a first class hotel. In the meantime, the Swinging 60’s arrived and London became once again the centre of global attention and many prominent politicians, businessmen, pop stars, fashion gurus and socialites, frequented the hotel.
By 1970 The White House “Club” had all but disappeared and The White House began to operate officially as a hotel with one wing of the building still reserved for permanent residents.
The emergence of a flagship hotel
In 1972 the Rank Organisation purchased the hotel and commenced a three-year renovation programme, adding a new and more modern framework, upon which The White House today is still based.
During the 1980’s the WinePress Bar was created, the Garden Cafe re-styled and a new lift system put into place. During the five years from 1982-1987 many millions of pounds were invested in computerised systems, refitting of the bar, the main lobby, the banqueting suites and the bedrooms and the creation of the Reserve Floor. 1990 saw the completion of the Business Centre, the Leisure Centre and three new Conference and Banqueting Suites in line with market demands and customer expectations.
In July 1999, The White House Hotel was bought by Sol Meliá and renamed Meliá White House. The hotel completed a £ 30 million pounds renovation program, encompassing the complete lobby area, all bedrooms, meeting rooms, restaurants and all other guests-facilities, thus establishing the Melia White House once again as one of the leading 4star-superior hotels in central London.
