The Cadogan

Lillie Langtry comes home

Lillie Langtry, one of the most famous actresses of the Victorian age and a lover of the Prince of Wales, lived at 21 Pont Street from the 1890s. Her house was later incorporated into the Cadogan, and her ghost is said never to have left it. Accounts describe her appearing in her old rooms, particularly around Christmas, along with sudden cold and the sound of a woman crying. London Dark Tourist names Room 109 as her room.

The arrest of Oscar Wilde

On 6 April 1895, after losing his libel case against the Marquess of Queensberry, Oscar Wilde waited in Room 118 at the Cadogan instead of fleeing to France. He was arrested there and later sentenced to two years' hard labour. John Betjeman turned the scene into his poem The Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel. A few visitors claim to have seen Wilde near the room, though reports of his ghost are rare compared with Langtry's.

The Cadogan was built in 1887 on Sloane Street, in red brick and terracotta typical of the Pont Street Dutch style that was then transforming the Cadogan estate. Lillie Langtry's neighbouring house at 21 Pont Street became part of the hotel. After a long restoration it reopened in 2019 as the Belmond Cadogan, with the Oscar Wilde suite among its rooms.

• The hotel is on Sloane Street, a few minutes' walk from Sloane Square and Knightsbridge stations.
• Langtry is said to appear most often around Christmas.
• Room 118, where Wilde was arrested, is part of a bookable suite.
• The hotel bar is open to non-residents if you'd like a look without staying.