It’s said that Winston Churchill, the former two-time British Prime Minister, always rubbed the nose of one of the lions on the grand marble staircase in the London War Office for good luck. {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"The Raffles OWO underwent a US$2 billion restoration eight years ago","url":"https://cdn.
i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/06/28/8d2bb296-f210-4dff-888b-e0abd4c527bd_79a70d39.jpg"} The Raffles OWO underwent a US$2 billion restoration eight years ago Flash forward to the present and the War Office, completed in 1906, has been transformed into one of, if not absolutely, London’s most exceptional hotels.
Eight years after the Hinduja Group spent some US$2 billion on its restoration, it is me rubbing the lion on the staircase at the now Raffles OWO (Old War Office). Situated directly across from the Horse Guards Parade (from some of the suites you can actually see the guards whinnying about with their horses before starting duty in the most London possible scene) in Whitehall, and one block from St James Park, Big Ben and Trafalgar Square, its location is unparalleled. But it’s actually the building itself, imbued with the kind of tony heritage and world-shaping history that any other hotelier would kill for, that makes it extraordinary.
The James Bond connection After all, this was the building where MI5 and MI6 were formed. Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond novels, worked in this building. The spi.