Slated for a spring 2026 opening, Hilton is bringing the upscale Waldorf Astoria brand to London, finding its home within the historical Admiralty Arch building.
Plans to turn the Admiralty Arch to a hotel have been afloat since 2012, one century after its construction, commissioned by King Edward VII in honour of his mother Queen Victoria, reached completion. It has since become the gateway to and from The Mall, the runway to The Buckingham Palace, where processions for weddings, funerals, and coronations have passed. It’s no surprise, then, that it took fourteen years for Hilton and Reuben Brothers to install the Waldorf Astoria Admiralty Arch into the Grade I-listed monument, designed with a language that bridges the Edwardian façade and the refined class of modern luxury.
If one’s idea of travelling London is tracing the pathwalks of a history textbook, Waldorf Astoria’s expansion to the UK capital is something to look forward to. Luck may be in their favour if they manage to stay in the same room that once was the private chambers of a British First Sea Lord, a long list that includes Winston Churchill. With 100 rooms and suites as well as 1,625sqm of branded residences, that may not be a guarantee, but at least guests of this hotel can still boast about having stayed in the same location as James Bond novelist Ian Fleming.
Those more excited by the city’s more modern predilections shouldn’t worry; the hotel’s dining destinations will more than suffice. Two global tycoons of the culinary scene who share no less than seven Michelin stars between them are slated to open offshoots of their renowned restaurants alongside the hotel. Clare Smyth MBE is taking the ethos of her three-starred Core and reshaping it into Coreus, a fine dining space with a heavy focus on the sea as a reflection of the building’s maritime heritage. Meanwhile, Daniel Boulud is bringing his signature Café Boulud, a Lyon-born family heirloom from the 1800s that has since found new life through revivals in New York (which went on to be a one-starred spot), Riyadh, Toronto, Palm Beach, and Nassau.
Waldorf Astoria London Admiralty Arch
The Mall
London SW1, United Kingdom
W: hilton.com
