Many people arrive in London from mainland Europe at the extravagant St Pancras Station, built in 1868 with a whopping 60 million red bricks. The utterly grand, adjacent Midland Grand Hotel opened in 1873 with cathedral windows and hand-painted gold-leaf walls, a modern hydraulic lift and London's first revolving door – it was once considered the most luxurious hotel London had to offer. Sadly, its reputation didn’t last, and it closed its doors in 1935.
After WWII, it was partitioned up to be British Rail offices, before being slated for demolition in the 1960s. Luckily, some had the foresight to campaign for it to be saved. In 2011, four years after the first Eurostar arrived at St Pancras International, it reopened as the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel London (stpancrasrenaissance.co.uk) with more than 200 rooms.
It’s been a creepy film location over the years, appearing in the likes of Harry Potter, Richard III, 102 Dalmatians and Batman. Its magnificent staircase also starred in the Spice Girls' 1995 Wannabe video.
The Gothic Bar and adjacent Midland Grand dining room opened in time for the hotel’s 150th anniversary, and are among the most evocative cocktail and dinner combos in the area. The bar, originally the hotel's reception, has high, hand-painted ceilings, plump booths and ornate columns, while the Midland Grand serves fancy French food – dishes such as roast lamb with pommes Anna and snails bourguignon. Another charming contender inside the hotel is Booking Office 1869, a bar and restaurant designed in the image of the station's original 19th-century ticket hall.