The Waldorf Hotel

The Waldorf Hotel, numbers 11 to 43 (odd) on the north side of Aldwych, was built between 1907 and 1908 by A.G.R. Mackenzie. It is a large, early steel-frame hotel faced with Portland stone and covered with a slate roof. The design is an ambitious example of Edwardian architecture, drawing upon Phipps’s French pavilion style, similar to the Carlton Hotel, though with fewer Parisian influences inspired by Gabriel’s architecture compared to the work of Mewes and Davis. The hotel forms a central element in the Aldwych-Kingsway development, aligned with the Strand and Aldwych Theatres.

The hotel rises seven storeys, including a mezzanine and attic level, and has two tiers of dormers within a steep mansard roof. The front facade, following the curve of Aldwych, is 15 windows wide. It features a central and pavilion-wing entrance, both with canopies, set within a plain, channelled stone ground floor and mezzanine podium. Three main storeys are above, with architraved windows articulated by a giant order of Ionic columns in antis on the pavilion wings, where pilasters are used instead. The fifth floor appears as a deep frieze with bar relief panels between the windows. The main entablature is topped with stone urns, and the attic level is set back between the pavilion wings, which have two-storied attics and square French domes. The lower tier of stone dormers has pediments, while the upper tier features lead-framed oeil de boeuf windows. The ridges are finished with lead dressings.

The interior retains its rare central, top-lit Palm Court, designed with trelliswork. A lavish "Adelphi" suite is located to the north, and a restaurant is to the east, both incorporating colonnades. A circular "Charter" room is situated at a lower level, all designed in a Dixhuitieme (18th-century) style. Architectural mouldings and sculpture are present throughout, produced by workshops such as Messrs. George Jackson and Sons.