Alexander Graham Bell Birthday Celebration
29 December 2009
AT ROCCO FORTE’S BROWN’S HOTEL
- COMPLIMENTARY CALLS FOR ALL GUESTS ON 3rd MARCH 2009
Alexander Graham Bell first visited Brown’s Hotel towards the end of 1876 and made the first successful UK telephone call from the hotel. To celebrate what would have been his birthday, Rocco Forte’s Brown’s Hotel will be offering all their hotel guests complimentary telephone calls* on the 3rd March 2009.
Brown’s Hotel was the first ever hotel to open in London in 1837 by James Brown – Lord Byron’s butler and boasts the most amazing history. This includes the first ever UK telephone call being made from the hotel. The then owner, Henry Ford, later recalled that Bell arrived at Brown’s carrying ‘a large handbag’ which contained not clothing, but a weird collection of instruments and wires, declaring it was an invention which would enable the human voice to be carried along a pair of wires. Bell had come to London to try and interest the British government in his invention and was anxious to try it out first. By a stroke of good fortune the Fords had installed a private telegraph line between the hotel and their home in Ravenscourt Park, so Bell fixed up the instrument and after the first complete failure, the inventor tried again between two and three am, when no one was using the line, and they spoke to each other with astonishing clarity. It is understood that many distinguished individuals subsequently visited Brown’s to use the telephone and these included Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, JM Barrie, Robert Louis Stevenson and Oscar Wilde.
Guests staying in Classic Suites upwards will also receive complimentary use of a state-of-the-art Nokia mobile phone, from which they too will also be able to receive and make complimentary local calls throughout their stay.**
Rooms at Rocco Forte’s Brown’s Hotel start at £270+VAT per night and to make a reservation or for further information please call 020 7493 6020, email reservations.browns@roccofortecollection.com or visit www.roccofortecollection.com
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For further press information, please contact:
Nina Colls, Director of Communications, Tel: 020 7518 4169
Email: ncolls@roccofortecollection.com
Brown’s Hotel, Albemarle Street, Mayfair, London, W1S 4BP
Tel: +44 (0)20 7493 6020 Fax: +44 (0)20 7518 4064
Website: www.roccofortecollection.com
NOTES FOR EDITORS
* Guests will receive complimentary unlimited local calls and 30 international minutes per room and does not included premium rate numbers.
** As part of The Rocco Forte Collection Suite Experience, suite guests in any of The Rocco Forte Collection properties receive a Nokia mobile phone from which they can make and receive complimentary local calls throughout their stay. This experience also includes a complimentary packing and unpacking service, complimentary pressing of 2 garments on arrival, in-suite check-in, complimentary in-suite breakfast every day and complimentary movies and internet use, as well as many other extras.
The Rocco Forte Collection was established in 1996 to create a group of luxury hotels in Europe. The hotels have individual styles, with each hotel reflecting its nationality and location. The properties are linked together under The Rocco Forte Collection, which guarantees attention to detail, quality and service delivery.
The Rocco Forte Collection comprises:
- Hotel de Russie, Rome
- Hotel Savoy, Florence
- The Balmoral, Edinburgh
- The Lowry Hotel, Manchester
- Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg
- Hotel Amigo, Brussels
- Brown’s Hotel, London
- Villa Kennedy, Frankfurt
- Hotel de Rome, Berlin
- Le Richemond, Geneva
- The Charles Hotel, Munich
Future openings:
The Augustine, Prague - 2009
Verdura Golf & Spa Resort, Sicily – 2009
Jeddah - 2010
Marrakech – 2010
Abu Dhabi - 2010
For further information and online reservations, please visit The Rocco Forte Collection website: www.roccofortecollection.com.
