Cliveden - Cliveden Hotel

Cliveden Hotel

In 1984 a hotel company – Blakeney Hotels (later Cliveden Hotel Ltd) – acquired the lease to the house. Led by chairman John Lewis and managing director John Tham (husband of Railway Children actress Jenny Agutter) they restored and refurbished the interior. Rooms are furnished with Edwardian antiques and the house is run in a similar style as it would have been when Nancy Astor was chatelaine.

In 1990 they added the indoor swimming pool and spa treatment rooms in the walled garden, complementing the existing outdoor pool. Also in 1990 a new 100-year lease was granted to run from 1984. In 1994 the conversion of the West wing from domestic offices to provide more bedrooms and two boardrooms (Churchill and Macmillan) was completed. There are 37 bedrooms in total, two dining rooms (the Terrace Dining Room and Waldo's ), and four private dining rooms. Bedrooms are named after previous owners and guests (e.g., Buckingham, Westminster). Three rooms are licensed for civil ceremonies and each year many couples are married at Cliveden. The hotel also lease Spring Cottage by the Thames, one of the key places in the Profumo Affair, and offer it as self-contained accommodation.

The hotel was listed on the London Stock Exchange for a period of time in the 1990s (as Cliveden Plc). This company was bought in 1998 by Destination Europe, a consortium led by billionaire Microsoft CEO Bill Gates. In the early years of the 21st century the lease was acquired by von Essen Hotels. In 2007 Cliveden Hotel claimed to offer the "world's most expensive sandwich" at £100. The von Essen Platinum Club Sandwich was confirmed by Guinness World Records in 2007 to be the most expensive sandwich commercially available. Cliveden was the "jewel in the crown" of Von Essen Hotels when the company collapsed in 2011.

Cliveden was then purchased in February 2012 by Richard and Ian Livingstone, owners of London & Regional Properties, (also the new owners of the next door 220 acre estate called dropmore park) who placed it under the management of Andrew Stembridge from Chewton Glen.

The hotel's insignia is that of the Sutherland family and consists of a coronet with interlaced "S"s and acanthus leaves. It can be found on radiator grills in parts of the house. The hotel's motto is "Nothing ordinary ever happened here, nor could it."