Great Scotland Yard Hotel

The building at 3-5 Great Scotland Yard opened in 1910 as the Metropolitan Police's headquarters, its red brick, Portland stone and green public-entrance doors standing a few steps off Whitehall from 1837 until the force moved out. It went on to serve as an Army recruitment office through both world wars and then the Ministry of Defence, until the LuLu Group bought the site in 2013 and converted it into a five-star hotel. It reopened in December 2019 as the UK debut of Hyatt's Unbound Collection, keeping the historic facade and adding 152 rooms behind it.

The lobby carries the building's history rather than smoothing it over: an installation called The Service pairs more than 600 commissioned pieces, including work by prisoners on the Koestler Arts rehabilitation programme, with police memorabilia, moody lighting and Tom Dixon floor lamps. Next door, a five-floor Grade II-listed townhouse dating to the 1820s runs as a private residence in its own right, No.1 The Townhouse, with its own living rooms, bedrooms and dining room.

For private events the hotel puts forward Grace & Favour, a non-traditional space built around one of the largest LCD screens in a London hotel, plus a hidden whisky bar and a spiced afternoon-tea room. Ekstedt at The Yard, chef Niklas Ekstedt's Nordic, fire-led restaurant and his first outside Stockholm, holds a current MICHELIN Guide listing (no star, per guide.michelin.com, checked this session) and takes enquiries for private dining.