side of entrance 2008 general information coordinates 51 30 36 n 0 8 9 w 51.51000 n 0.13583 w 51.51000 ; 0.13583 coordinates 51 30 36 n 0 8 9 w 51.51000 n 0.13583 w 51.51000 ; 0.13583 website http hotelcaferoyal.com the hotel caf royal is a five star hotel at 68 regent street in london s piccadilly . before its conversion in 2008 2012 it was a restaurant and meeting place . the caf royal london william orpen 1912 contents 1 history 2 restoration and conversion 3 references 4 external links history edit the establishment was originally conceived and set up in 1865 by daniel nicholas th venon who was a french wine merchant . he had to flee france due to bankruptcy arriving in britain in 1863 with his wife c lestine and just five pounds in cash . he changed his name to daniel nicols . under his son also named daniel nicols the caf royal flourished and was considered at one point to have the greatest wine cellar in the world . daniel nicols then married and had two children roy daniel nicols and patricia nicols . citation needed by the 1890s the caf royal had become the place to see and be seen at . its patrons have included oscar wilde 1 aleister crowley 2 virginia woolf d. h. lawrence winston churchill no l coward brigitte bardot max beerbohm george bernard shaw jacob epstein mick jagger elizabeth taylor muhammad ali and diana princess of wales . 3 the caf was the scene of a famous meeting on 24 march 1895 when frank harris advised oscar wilde to drop his charge of criminal libel against the marquess of queensberry father of alfred douglas . queensberry was acquitted and wilde was subsequently tried convicted and imprisoned . 4 from 1951 the caf royal was the home of the national sporting club . it was bought by david locke in 1972 . restoration and conversion edit the caf royal closed in december 2008 . 5 the fittings and furniture were later sold at auction . 3 6 the building is a grade ii listed building which will protect its architecturally significant features and fixtures . there is also the n symbol which represents nicols to remind visitors of the foundation and history behind the set up of this place . but according to the concierge the son of nicols who had the n symbol put in place did it in commemoration of napoleon . indeed every amateur of napoleon will recognize the blason immediately . the father nicols thought for a while that it was an hommage to him and was not very happy when he understood what the n really stood for . david chipperfield architects restored and transformed the building into a hotel with 159 rooms and historic suites an array of dining rooms a club meeting rooms and a wellbeing spa and gym with 18 metre pool . 7 alrov properties a subsidiary of the israeli alrov group opened the hotel in december 2012 . 8 9 references edit guy deghy and keith waterhouse 1955 . caf royal ninety years of bohemia . hutchinson & co. howard michael february 2010 . a seeker s journey in the cauldron 135 . a b cafe royal memorabilia goes under hammer . daily telegraph . 20 january 2009 . retrieved 4 december 2009 . belford barbara 2000 . oscar wilde a certain genius . new york random house . p. 251 . isbn 0 679 45734 8 . browning jonathan 18 december 2008 . london s cafe royal closes farewell to scandal wilde murder . bloomberg . retrieved 4 december 2009 . bates stephen 23 december 2008 . cafe royal party is over as 143 years of high society goes under the hammer . the guardian . retrieved 5 december 2009 . caf royal a very fashionable launch . the handbook . 11 december 2012 . external link in work help esquinno axel 10 december 2012 . caf royal makes a dramatic comeback . caterer.com . cafe royal sale . daily telegraph . 14 april 2008 . retrieved 4 december 2009 . external links edit official website a brief history and an account of the recent analysis of the decoration . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title hotel caf royal & oldid 743987020 categories restaurants in londonmichelin guide starred restaurants in the united kingdomfrench restaurantsrestaurants established in 18652008 disestablishmentsgrade i listed buildings in the city of westminstergrade i listed hotelshotels in londonhidden categories cs1 errors external linksuse dmy dates from august 2012coordinates on wikidatapages using infobox building with unsupported parametersall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from august 2015 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links 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