The St James's Hotel and Club is a hotel at 7-8, Park Place,

St. James's St James's is a district of Westminster, and a central district in the City of Westminster, London, forming part of the West End. The area was once part of the northwestern gardens and parks of St. James's Palace and much of it is still owned ...

, London SW1A 1LP and is part of Pakistani multinational conglomerate

Nishat Group Nishat Group ( ) is a group of companies headquartered in Lahore, Pakistan. It was founded by in 1951. Mian Muhammad Mansha is the current chairman of the group. At least eleven of the Nishat Group's subsidiaries are listed on the Pakistan ...

, owned by Mian Mohammad Mansha. The hotel has fifty rooms and ten suites, many of which have their own terraces, plus a penthouse with a party deck for sixty people.

History

The current hotel describes itself as having "first opened its doors, as a gentlemen's chamber for the English aristocracy, in 1892".stjamesclubandhotel.co.uk
(accessed 12 January 2008) At that time the original

St James's Club The St James's Club was a London gentlemen's club which operated between 1857 and 1978. It was founded by two leading diplomats and its members continued to be largely diplomats and authors. It was first established in Bennet Street, and after a b ...

was elsewhere, and the buildings at 7-8 Park Place were erected as blocks of flats in 1891-92. They were originally planned with forty-four sets of residential chambers, plus service rooms. The sporting Sir John Dugdale Astley, 3rd Baronet, died in his chambers at 7, Park Place, 10 October 1894. Before the building's construction, a club known as the Field Club operated at the 7 Park Place address in 1889. On 13 May of that year, police raided the club and found

baccarat Baccarat or baccara (; ) is a card game. It is now mainly played at casinos, but formerly popular at house-parties and private gaming rooms. The game's origins are a mixture of precursors from China, Japan, and Korea, which then gained popularit ...

in progress. Twenty-one persons were arrested, "among whom were three English and several French and Belgian noblemen..." Among those arrested were the

Earl of Dudley Earl of Dudley, of Dudley Castle in the County of the West Midlands (though previously in the County of Stafford) is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, both times for members of the Ward family. Hist ...

(later Governor-General of Australia), William Brownlow, 3rd Baron Lurgan, son of Charles Brownlow, 2nd Baron Lurgan, 'Lord Paulet' (probably a son of the 15th

Marquess of Winchester Marquess of Winchester is a title in the Peerage of England that was created in 1551 for the prominent statesman William Paulet, 1st Earl of Wiltshire. It is the oldest of six surviving English marquessates; therefore its holder is considered th ...

) and Baron Ferraro. By 1960, the 7-8 Park Place flats were being called ''Old St James's House'', a name apparently without historical support. In the spring of 2008, following extensive renovation, the building was reopened as 'The St James's Hotel and Club'. Within the hotel is the renovated and repurposed space St James's Club founded by

Peter de Savary Peter John de Savary (11 July 1944 – 30 October 2022) was a British businessman in shipping, oil and property. He once owned or managed 13 shipyards around the globe and had global oil-trading and refuelling businesses. He was the Chairman of ...

, who marketed it to resonate with the panache associated with the historic

founded in 1857 by

Earl Granville Earl Granville is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of Great Britain and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It is now held by members of the Leveson-Gower family. First creation The first creation came in the Pee ...

and the Marchese d'Azeglio. The team of the St James’s Hotel and Club received the Olympic torch on the day before the opening of the Games. On 5 November 2010, Pakistani

bought the hotel for £60 million.

Footnotes

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Jamess Hotel and Club Hotels in London Buildings and structures in the City of Westminster 1892 establishments in the United Kingdom Commercial buildings completed in 1892 Nishat Group 2017 mergers and acquisitions St James's