THE STARS will be out in force for The Irish Post Awards on November 7. The venue for this essential date in the Diaspora’s calendar is JW Marriott Grosvenor House London.
Located on Park Lane in the heart of Mayfair, the 5-star hotel is well used to hosting royalty, showbusiness icons, international celebrities, captains of industry and the movers and shakers of the film world.
On November 7 the luxury venue will play host to The Irish Post Awards.
The event will be held in the Grosvenor’s spectacular Great Room, one of the largest ballrooms in Europe, and certainly one of the most stylish and impressive.
The hall, which has a history dating back almost 100 years as a venue, is ideal for banqueting and utterly glitzy events. And since olden times it has enjoyed a very interesting backstory.
As you sit at one of the oaken tables enjoying your feast, you might just let your mind wander to the fact that you could be sitting where the late Queen Elizabeth II once skated over. Fresh from horse-riding lessons in Hyde Park, the young Princess Elizabeth, aged 7, learned to skate here in the Great Hall. It had originally opened as an ice rink, but that ceased in the 1930s — although some of the old machinery lies dormant under the floorboards. But if someone says to you, “Get your skates on! The Irish Post Awards start in an hour,” the skating part should not be taken literally. It will be fine dining, entertainment, food for thought as well as the palate — but no skating.
After becoming a ballroom and banqueting hall, the venue quickly established itself as the top venue in Europe, if not the world.
Since the 1930s, the Great Room has hosted the world’s oldest charitable ball, the Royal Caledonian Ball, and is frequently seen onscreen for various events.
The Grosvenor was originally a 19th century aristocratic residence, and that air of grandeur and sophistication is still reflected in the building, inside and out.
From the aristocracy the house passed on to new owners and in 1929 the hotel opened. It survived the Second World War almost intact, and steadily became one of the go-to venues for celebrities, top business people, and fine dining connoisseurs.
The fine dining in the hotel continues, with County Meath man Richard Corrigan running Corrigan’s Bar & Restaurant Mayfair here.
Guests at The Irish Post Awards will be treated to a three-course meal preceding the Awards presentation.
Top class food, glittering surroundings, a dramatic atmosphere along with craic and conviviality will be the background to the event — when our community pays tribute to its achievers in every field.
The Irish Post Awards take place on November 7
JW Marriott Grosvenor House London
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