St. Ermin’s Hotel in Westminster has redesigned and upgraded its meeting and events spaces, giving the rooms new names that honour the wartime agents and ministers linked to the building’s role in Britain’s intelligence history.
The hotel, moments from Parliament Square, served as the headquarters of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during the Second World War, when the organisation took over an entire floor under the cover name of the ‘Statistical Research Department’. It was also a meeting ground for MI5 operatives and double agents, while the Caxton Bar was a popular place for SIS, MI5 and the Naval Intelligence Division to meet their agents and vet prospective recruits.
The refurbished rooms combine new technology with the hotel’s understated style, and each name pays tribute to a figure from that clandestine past:
- The Granville is dedicated to Christine Granville (Krystyna Skarbek), often described as Churchill’s favourite spy and Britain’s longest-serving female agent of the Second World War. The 37-square-metre room seats up to 40 theatre-style or 30 for private dining.
- The Dalton honours Hugh Dalton, the wartime minister Churchill charged with forming the SOE and told to “set Europe ablaze”. At 49 square metres, it hosts up to 40 theatre-style or 32 for workshops.
- The Atkins is named after Vera Atkins, the SOE intelligence officer who oversaw the recruitment and deployment of agents and later traced the fates of missing operatives. The 24-square-metre room suits boardroom sessions or private dining for up to 10.
- The Hallowes remembers Odette Hallowes, the SOE agent awarded the George Cross for her courage in occupied France, and hosts boardroom meetings and private dining for up to 10.
- The O’Connell commemorates Barbara O’Connell, an SOE coder who encoded and decoded messages to and from resistance networks. The 20-square-metre room takes up to eight.
- The Selborne is named for Lord Selborne, the minister who took responsibility for the SOE in 1942, and hosts meetings for up to four.
- The Madden honours Elaine Madden, one of only two women agents parachuted into occupied Belgium by the SOE, and seats up to 14.
- The Brooks is named for Anthony Brooks, one of the SOE’s youngest and longest-serving agents in occupied France and leader of the PIMENTO resistance network. The 49-square-metre suite holds up to 40 theatre-style.
- The Rendezvous recalls the discreet meetings at the heart of wartime operations, with 41 square metres for up to 26 in a boardroom layout or 41 for receptions.
The new line-up also includes The Hidden Lens, a private screening room for up to 14 guests inspired by covert observation, and The Listening Station, a new podcast studio named after wartime communications monitoring posts.
The hotel has the support of family and friends of several of the agents and ministers behind the new names, many of whom plan to visit the rooms.
“Many thanks to the hotel, on behalf of my family, for looking to honour my great grandfather in this way. This will be most appreciated.”
Lord Selborne, great-grandson (The Selborne)
“Christine Granville was a friend of my parents and, when I was born, in 1949, she asked them to give me her name because it was “a lucky one”. I am proud to bear the name of the brave and beautiful woman I never knew, but whose story is almost legendary – and I am delighted that she is to be commemorated at St.Ermin’s.”
Isabell Cole, goddaughter of Christine Granville (The Granville)
“I’m thrilled to hear from you that St. Ermin’s Hotel are honouring Elaine in this way. She would be amazed and delighted I’m sure! She was such an exceptional but modest woman and I was privileged to meet her and write her biography. I know the St. Ermin’s and am very much aware of its fascinating Intelligence role, so this is entirely fitting.”
Sue Elliott, close friend and biographer of Elaine Madden (The Madden)
“We are delighted to hear that the St. Ermin’s Hotel plans to name one of its newly refurbished meeting and event spaces after our grandmother, Odette Hallowes. It means a great deal to us when Odette and her SOE colleagues continue to be honoured for their service and bravery. Your wonderful tribute to Odette is of course made even more meaningful, given the hotel’s rich association with SOE during WWII.”
Sophie Parker, granddaughter of Odette Hallowes (The Hallowes)
The rooms are available for corporate bookings, residential conferences and private receptions, with bookings and private viewings of the new St. Ermin’s meeting and events spaces opening from mid-November. The four-star hotel sits a short walk from St James’s Park and Buckingham Palace.
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