Oscar Wilde arrested at the Cadogan!

The Cadogan's rich and long history is most celebrated for its notable connection with two icons of the stage, Oscar Wilde and Lillie Langtry. The Irish playwright was a frequent guest and entertained, amongst others, the leading American born artist, James Abbott McNeill Whistler at the Cadogan. However, most famously Oscar Wilde was arrested in Room 118, an event immortalised by the poet laureate John Betjemen in the ‘Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel' and Betjemen's address from the arresting officer: "Mr. Woilde, we'ave come for to take yew where felons and criminals dwell. We must ask yew to leave with us quoietly, for this is the Cadogan Hotel!"

Lillie Langtry, the phenomenally successful late Victorian actress, is another famous guest whose involvement and personality is part of the fabric of the hotel. Lillie Langtry lived at 21 Pont Street. The Cadogan is on the corner of Sloane Street and Pont Street. In 1895 Lillie Langtry's townhouse became part of the Cadogan Hotel, but fascinatingly Lillie continued to reside in her old bedroom as part of the expanded hotel. If you are fortunate enough to book the Lillie Langtry Suite, you will see why Lillie Langtry felt so attached to this beautiful and remarkable room. The Cadogan has lovingly maintained the suite for over a century and sensitively renewed it with the designer Grace Leo-Andrieu.

Although the hotel has embraced modern world class standards of 5 star accommodation, it retains by design the quintessential charm of the Wilde and Langtry era.