The Royal Horseguards Hotel is a

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

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 ref ...

situated in the area of Whitehall. It is operated by Guoman Hotels, a subsidiary of

Thistle Hotels Thistle Hotels, run by glh., is a UK-based hotel company with a portfolio of 7 Central London hotels, one at London Heathrow and one in Dorset, operating in the three and four star sector. History It was set up by Scottish & Newcastle in 1965 ...

History

The building is the centre section of

Whitehall Court Whitehall Court in the City of Westminster, England, is one contiguous building but consists of two separate constructions. The south end was designed by Thomas Archer and A. Green and constructed as a block of luxury residential apartments in ...

which was designed by Thomas Archer and A. Green and constructed as a block of luxury residential apartments in 1884. The building's construction was the centrepiece of an elaborate

pyramid scheme A pyramid scheme is a business model that recruits members via a promise of payments or services for enrolling others into the scheme, rather than supplying investments or sale of products. As recruiting multiplies, recruiting becomes quickly im ...

for

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

by the Liberal MP and property developer

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 ...

, through the Liberator Building Society which he controlled. In 1892 the Society collapsed, leaving thousands of investors penniless. Instead of advancing money to home buyers, the Society had advanced money to property companies to buy properties owned by Balfour, at a high price. It achieved its

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

status due to its architecture, which is modelled on a French chateau. The centre section of Whitehall Court was converted to a hotel in 1971 and acquired by Guoman Hotels in 2008. It underwent a £20 million refurbishment at that time.

Media appearances

The

World Branding Awards The World Branding Awards is an international award presented to global and national brands for their work and achievements in branding. The World Branding Forum, based in London, organises the awards. There are three tiers of awards. A Global ...

was held at One Whitehall Place, the events building of the Royal Horseguards Hotel, in 2014.

Location

The hotel is in

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

, just off the Embankment and

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It is the main ...

and near

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson commemo ...

. The nearest tube station is

Embankment Embankment may refer to: Geology and geography * A levee, an artificial bank raised above the immediately surrounding land to redirect or prevent flooding by a river, lake or sea * Embankment (earthworks), a raised bank to carry a road, railwa ...

and the nearest railway station is

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...

References

External links

The Royal Horseguards, London: Hotel Watch" The Telegraph, August 2009
{{Hotels in London Residential buildings completed in 1884 Hotels in the City of Westminster Hotels established in 1971 Household Cavalry