The Langham, London, is a 5-star hotel in London, England. It is situated in the district of Marylebone on Langham Place and faces up Portland Place towards Regent's Park.
History
The Langham was designed by John Giles and built by Lucas Brothers between 1863 and 1865 at a cost of £300,000, .[1] It was then the largest and most modern hotel in the city, featuring a hundred water closets, thirty-six bathrooms and the first hydraulic lifts in England. The opening ceremony on 10 June 1865 was performed by the Prince of Wales. After the original company was liquidated during an economic slump, new management acquired the hotel for little more than half of its construction cost, and it soon became a commercial success.
In 1867 an American former Union Army officer, James Sanderson, was appointed general manager and the hotel developed an extensive American clientele, which included Mark Twain and the financier Hetty Green.[2] It was also patronised by Napoleon III, Oscar Wilde