The Lanesborough opens following £60m+ refurbishment

The Lanesborough, the five-red-AA-star 93-bedroom hotel, which has undergone a 19-month refurbishment costing at least £60m, officially opens its doors to guests once again today.

Geoffrey Gelardi, the hotel's managing director, said he hoped the extensive improvements and interior design created by the late Alberto Pinto would return the Lanesborough to the very top echelon of London's luxury hotel sector.

As well as replacing all of the back-of-house infrastructure and introducing a range of superior technology products, the money has also been spent on specialist craft finishes, including the installation of elaborate decorative ceilings using 2,100 books of 23 and a quarter-carat gold leaf.

Food and beverage at the Lanesborough is now overseen by three-Michelin-starred chef Eric Frechon of Le Bristol in Paris, with Florian Favario taking day-to-day responsibility as the hotel's new executive chef.

Guests to the property, owned by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and managed by Oetker Collection, will pay between £715 for a Deluxe Queen room and £26,000 for the newly extended Royal Suite, which now features seven bedrooms and bathrooms across 450 square metres. When the hotel first opened 24 years ago, rates started at £195 single and £220 double a night, rising to £2,500 for what was then a smaller Royal Suite.

Read here about the full details of the Lanesborough's transformation >>