Great Western Coffee Shop

The former Midland Grand Hotel (now renamed St Pancras Renaissance London - operated by Marriott) had it's official opening yesterday, 5th May 2011.

The building, an excellent example of Gothic Revival architecture, designed by George Gilbert Scott, was completed in stages between 1873 -1876. As the Midland Grand Hotel it operated as such until 1935. After the 2nd World War it was renamed St Pancras Chambers and was used as offices by British Railways/British Rail. In the mid 1980's the building failed fire safety regulations and was mothballed, although the facade was restored in the 1990s. Oh, and the video for the Spice Girls' breakthrough hit 'Wannabe' was filmed in the foyer/staircase area!

The majority of the building now houses exclusive private apartments although the original public rooms on the ground floor and parts of the first floor have be given over to Marriott, with the majority of the hotel's bedrooms housed in a sympathetic new build to the west of the Barlow trainshed.

I've always been fascinated by this building and the station itself. The Midland Railway were latecomers to London and they needed to make a bold statement to attract custom. With the Barlow trainshed and the Midland Grand I think they suceeded! It's good to now see both restored to their former glory.

Links and articles:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midland_Grand_Hotel#Midland_Grand_Hotel

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/hotels/24hour-room-service-the-st-pancras-renaissance-london-2276599.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/8377950/Inside-Londons-lost-landmark-the-St-Pancras-Midland-Grand-hotel.html

http://www.marriott.co.uk/hotels/hotel-information/travel/lonpr-st-pancras-renaissance-london-hotel/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gilbert_Scott

Just for a change, Wolmar wasn't overly impressed...

http://www.christianwolmar.co.uk/2011/04/st-pancras-renaissance-blows-it/ (http://www.christianwolmar.co.uk/2011/04/st-pancras-renaissance-blows-it/)

At least when Wolmar writes for other media his articles are proof read and corrected. The amount of grammatical errors and typos in that article.....

As to the substance of the article, well... you can't please all of the people all of the time.  ::)