Regent Palace Hotel

[2] It took up the complete triangular block formed by Glasshouse, Brewer and Sherwood Streets and rose nine floors high, plus a basement and sub-basement.

[3] The English architect Oliver Percy Bernard was the chief designer of the hotel's interior, having been enlisted to help by Lyons in the early 1930s.

The entrance to the hotel was later bought by the Victoria and Albert Museum who preserved it as a significant piece of period design.

In postwar years it deteriorated in spite of many attempts to refurbish it, and became one of the cheaper hotels of London, catering for group tours.

The floor plan altered slightly over the years, but in the 1980s was as follows: immediately after entering there was a news kiosk on the left; on the right was a sandwich and fruit bar.

Further in the vestibule was a gift shop and a theatre booking agency, followed by a hall with the entry to a pub on the left and to the coffee shop/breakfast room on the right.

The vestibule ended in swing doors leading to an area under a dome with a classic parquet floor.

Even the inner rooms had natural light as they opened onto the central court, whose triangular shape prevented direct overlook.

A bell in each bedroom summoned a floor maid who would then draw a bath, supply hot towels and escort the resident to the bathroom and, after use, clean it.. At its peak, the Regent Palace employed over a thousand staff.