Hilton London Paddington
The Great Western Royal Hotel is now renamed to the Hilton London Paddington. It is a hotel that forms part of the Paddington station complex in London, England. The hotel was built on Praed Street in 1851–54 and was designed by architect Philip Charles Hardwick. The Hotel effectively forms the main facade of the station. The Great Western Royal Hotel was built by Cubitts, the building firm founded by Thomas Cubitt.
Originally, the hotel was extensively ornamented inside and outside, and there is a surviving allegorical sculpture in the pediment by John Thomas. The Great Western Railway originally leased the hotel land then later took full control of its operation in the later nineteenth century, and in the 1930s extended and remodelled it under the direction of their architect P. A. Culverhouse. In accordance with Government policies on privatization of British Rail, the hotel was sold to the private sector in 1983. It was renovated and reopened under its present name, as part of the Hilton Hotels chain, in 2001.