The hotel is built on the site of a series of townhouses that included
145 Piccadilly, the childhood home of
Queen Elizabeth II. The townhouses were destroyed in
World War II. The hotel was designed by Sir
Frederick Gibberd. It was officially opened by
Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of Wellington on 23 September 1975 as the
Inter-Continental London. The hotel underwent a 75 million refurbishment in 2007. In 2013,
InterContinental Hotels Group sold the hotel for 301.5 million to Constellation Hotels, a division of the
Qatar Investment Authority, which simultaneously bought the freehold to the land under the hotel for 100 million from the
Crown Estate. The hotel continues to be managed by InterContinental under a thirty-year contract, with three additional ten-year extension options. ==Facilities==