The Tower Hotel is a large
hotel situated on the north bank of the
River Thames, on the east side of
Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge is a Listed building#Grade I, Grade I listed combined Bascule bridge, bascule and Suspended-deck suspension bridge, suspension bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones (architect), Horace Jones and e ...
, in
London.
The hotel was designed by the
Renton Howard Wood Partnership, constructed by
Taylor Woodrow for owners
J. Lyons & Co., and opened in September 1973 by the
Constable of the Tower of London,
Sir Richard Hull.
It was built in a
Brutalist
Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...
style and was voted the second most hated building in London in a 2006
BBC poll.
J. Lyons operated the hotel until July 1977 when it was sold for £6.5m to
EMI Leisure.
In 1980, EMI Leisure properties, including the Tower Hotel, were sold to
Trusthouse Forte. The hotel was later acquired by the
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 ...
group.
The hotel has 801 rooms, as well as 19 meeting rooms with capacity for up to 600 people. It also has a gym, restaurant, coffee bar, and licensed premises. The hotel is ultimately owned by Singapore-based GuocoLeisure which shifted the hotel into a separate luxury brand called Guoman Hotels, now
GLH Hotels
GLH Hotels Management (UK) Limited (branded glh.) is a British-based global hotel company, headquartered in London, and subsidiary of GL Limited.
GLH is the largest owner-operator hotel management company in London with over 5,000 hotel rooms. T ...
.
It is frequently used for roof top filming due to its high level view of a skyline including Tower Bridge, Tower of London and the river.
The nearest
London Underground station is
Tower Hill.
Tower Gateway DLR station is also nearby.
See also
*
Hotels in London
*
Silver Jubilee Crystal Crown, mounted on the wall of the Tower Hotel
References
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Hotels in London