The Hotel Cecil was a grand

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

built 1890–96 between the Thames Embankment and the

Strand Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * Strand Street ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It was named after

Cecil House Cecil House refers to two historical mansions on The Strand, London, in the vicinity of the Savoy. The first was a 16th-century house on the north side, where the Strand Palace Hotel now stands. The second was built in the early 17th century on the ...

(also known as Salisbury House), a mansion belonging to the Cecil family, which occupied the site in the 17th century. The hotel was largely demolished in 1930, and

Shell Mex House Shell Mex House, also known as 80 Strand, is a grade II listed building located at number 80 Strand in London, England. The building was opened in 1932 on the site of the Hotel Cecil and stands behind the original façade of the hotel, between ...

now stands on its site.

History

Thames embankment, London, England-LCCN2002696941

Wrenaissance Edwardian architecture is a Neo-Baroque architectural style that was popular in the British Empire during the Edwardian era (1901–1910). Architecture up to the year 1914 may also be included in this style. Description Edwardian architecture is ...

" style, the hotel was the largest in Europe when it opened, with more than 800 rooms. The proprietor,

Jabez Balfour Jabez Spencer Balfour (4 September 1843 – 23 February 1916) was an English businessman, British Liberal Party politician and fraudster. Life Balfour was born in Marylebone, London to James and Clara Lucas Balfour. He was Member of Parliament ...

, later went bankrupt and was sentenced to 14 years in prison. The hotel provided accommodation and the base for

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

’s South African delegation campaigning for Indian rights in the Transvaal in 1906. The hotel was requisitioned for the war effort in 1917 by the Air Board, and the very first headquarters of the fledgling

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

took up part of the hotel from 1918 to 1919. Little more than a fortnight after the founding of the newly formed RAF on 1 April 1918, the French

agent provocateur An agent provocateur () is a person who commits, or who acts to entice another person to commit, an illegal or rash act or falsely implicate them in partaking in an illegal act, so as to ruin the reputation of, or entice legal action against, th ...

Bolo Pasha Bolo Pasha, originally named Paul Bolo, (24 September 1867, Marseilles – 17 April 1918, Vincennes) was a Frenchman who was a Levantine financier, traitor, and a German agent. ''The New York Times'' wrote that he "circumnavigated the globe, engag ...

was shot for treason in France on 17 April. He had been attempting in 1916 to destabilise sections of the French press with the intention of forcing an early armistice, using German

slush fund A slush fund is a fund or account that is not properly accounted, such as money used for corrupt or illegal purposes, especially in the political sphere. Such funds may be kept hidden and maintained separately from money that is used for legitim ...

s channelled via New York organised by

Franz von Papen Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen, Erbsälzer zu Werl und Neuwerk (; 29 October 18792 May 1969) was a German conservative politician, diplomat, Prussian nobleman and General Staff officer. He served as the chancellor of Germany ...

and the ambassador to Washington, Count von Bernstorff. :"Somehow his name tickled our curiously warped English sense of humour, and the office of the Air Board at the Hotel Cecil was nicknamed the Hotel Bolo, or the Bolo House. The reason given by the inventor of the name was that everybody in the Hotel Bolo was either actively interfering with the progress of the War, or was doing nothing to help its progress. So well was the nickname known that if one wanted to go to the Air Board, or later on to the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of Stat ...

, one merely told the taxi-driver to go to the Hotel Bolo, or the Bolo House, and he went without further question." A green plaque was affixed just inside the outer Strand entrance to the building in March 2008, proclaiming: The Royal Air Force was formed and had its first headquarters here in the former Hotel Cecil 1 April 1918. Below it is a brass plate stating: This plaque was unveiled by the Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal

Sir Glenn Torpy Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Lester Torpy, (born 27 July 1953) is a retired senior Royal Air Force (RAF) commander. He was a fast jet pilot in the late 1970s and 1980s, saw active service during the Gulf War and then went on to higher command. He ...

to mark the 90th anniversary of the formation of the Royal Air Force. The hotel was the base for a Palestine Arab delegation that arrived in London in August 1921 and spent almost a year there, protesting in vain against the proposed terms of the British Mandate for Palestine.Sahar Huneidi
A broken trust: Herbert Samuel, Zionism and the Palestinians 1920–1925
2001 The president of the delegation was Musa Kazim al-Husseini; its secretary was Shibli al-Jamal; the other delegates were Tawfiq Hammad, Amin al-Tamimi, Ibrahim Shammas and Mu'in al-Madi; the assistant secretary was Dr Fu'ad Samad. The Cecil was largely demolished in Autumn 1930, and

was built on the site. The Strand range of the hotel remains (now occupied by shops and offices, including those of Interbrand), with, at its centre, a grandiose arch leading to the separate Shell Mex House behind. After Shell Mex relocated, the block became known as 80 Strand and is occupied by a number of companies including

AIMIA Aimia is an investment holding company with a focus on long-term investments in public and private companies, on a global basis, through controlling or minority stakes, and is based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is publicly listed on the Toront ...

and

Pearson PLC Pearson plc is a British multinational publishing and education company headquartered in London, England. It was founded as a construction business in the 1840s but switched to publishing in the 1920s. Spender, J. A., ''Weetman Pearson: F ...

subsidiaries

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Dorling Kindersley Dorling Kindersley Limited (branded as DK) is a British multinational publishing company specialising in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 63 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a subsidiary of German media c ...

and

Rough Guides Rough Guides Ltd is a British travel guide book and reference publisher, which has been owned by APA Publications since November 2017. In addition to publishing guidebooks, the company also provides a tailor-made trips service based on custome ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cecil 1896 establishments in England 1930 disestablishments in England Hotel buildings completed in 1896 Defunct hotels in London Hotel Cecil Hotel Cecil Hotels established in 1896 Demolished hotels in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures demolished in 1930 Strand, London