Metropole building

Construction started in 1883 and it opened in 1885 as the Hotel Metropole and announced itself through an 88 page brochure which claimed that the hotel's location would:

‘Particularly recommend it to ladies and families visiting the West End during the Season; to travellers from Paris and the Continent, arriving from Dover and Folkestone at the Charing Cross Terminus; to Officers and others attending the levees at St James; to Ladies going to the Drawing Rooms, State Balls, and Concerts at Buckingham Palace; and to colonial and American visitors unused to the great world of London'.

The hotel apparently prospered at the turn of the century and was a popular venue for banquets, balls and dinner parties. For example the Aero Club (founded in 1901) and the Alpine Club both held an annual dinner function at the Metropole for some years spanning the turn of the century. An advertisement in the 1914 War Office List claims it to be:

'Of worldwide reputation. Central position in Northumberland Avenue, Trafalgar Square. Close to fashionable quarter, best shopping district, theatres, etc. Luxurious suites with bathrooms attached. Magnificent hotel lounge. Telephone in every bedroom. Orchestra.'

The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) is reputed to have entertained guests at the hotel on various occasions; he presumably used the Royal Suite. The exact location of this is unclear, but is suggested by some to have been the first floor rooms with bowfronted windows on the elevation fronting Whitehall Place.

During the First World War, as with most of the buildings in Northumberland Avenue, including the other hotels, the Constitutional Club and the offices of the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, the Metropole was requisitioned to provide accommodation for government staff.

The Metropole reopened after the War and it is said that the famous band leader Mantovani played in there in the inter-war years. It remained in use as a hotel until 1936 when it was leased by the government for £300,000 to provide alternative accommodation for the various departments which had to be removed from Whitehall Gardens to make way for the construction of the new block of Government Offices planned for that site.

The building continued in government use during and after the Second World War. By 1951 it included among its occupants a considerable number of staff from the Air Ministry. Throughout subsequent years it has remained in Ministry of Defence (MOD) hands and played its part as a 'decant' building for Main Building staff during the major refurbishment of the Main Building. During this time the mirrored ballroom provided the setting for Press Conferences and other major events.