Northumberland House (London)

 hotel, dormitory

The Hotel Victoria opened in 1887, its name commemorating the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria held that year. It contained 500 bedrooms and was the second largest hotel in London of its type on opening, overrunning its budget by around £520,000 (now £44,100,000). The hotel was self-powered, generating its own electricity from dynamos. It was bought by Frederick Gordon in 1893, giving him a monopoly on all hotels on Northumberland Avenue. A refurbishment was started in 1911, though delayed due to the First World War, which resulted in a new annexe, the Edward VII Rooms. The hotel closed in 1940 and was used by the War Office, which was in need of extra accommodation. The War Office bought the building outright in 1951, renaming it the Victoria Buildings. It was subsequently converted to a Ministry of Defence office building named Northumberland House.

It was sold to the London School of Economics in 2006. Part of the huge building was converted to dorms. Another portion, including the historic lobby was restored as a hotel. It is marketed to the general public as The Grand at Trafalgar Square and to corporate groups as the Club Quarters Trafalgar Square. The historic public rooms of the former hotel are marketed as event space under yet another name, 8 Northumberland Avenue.

www.lse.ac.uk/student-life/accommodation/halls/northumb...
www.thegrandattrafalgarsquare.com/
clubquartershotels.com/london/trafalgar-square
www.8northumberland.co.uk/