Battle line<\/span> The OWO was previously the Old War Office, completed in 1906. Influential leaders such as David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill have marched its two and a half miles of corridors. During the Second World War, courageous War Office staff worked around the clock, ignoring all but the closest air raids.<\/p>\n Plot line<\/span> The Old War Office helped inspire former worker Ian Fleming to write the James Bond series, and it has appeared in several of the Bond movies. The founding of MI5 and MI6 also occurred here, and you can still find the discreet \u2018spies entrance\u2019 door on Whitehall Court.<\/p>\n Raffles London at The OWO is located in the heart of Whitehall. It faces the Horse Guards \u2013 making this London\u2019s best spot to watch the Changing of the Guard in comfort \u2013 and is just a few minutes\u2019 stroll from Buckingham Palace<\/p>\n Blood line<\/span>\u00a0This spot is rich in aristocratic history. The OWO was built on the site of the Palace of Whitehall, home to monarchs including King Henry VIII, who died there in 1547.\u00a0<\/p>\n Raffles Hotels has a rich heritage too. The original Raffles Singapore opened in 1887, introducing the world to the Singapore sling cocktail and making \u2018see you at Raffles\u2019 a signature phrase among glamorous travellers.<\/p>\n Frontline <\/span>Overseeing the hotel\u2019s look was Thierry Despont, the French interior designer and architect behind the 2016 Ritz Paris revamp and Statue of Liberty restoration in the 1980s. The d\u00e9cor is spectacular \u2013 think hand-laid mosaic floors, crystal chandeliers and a sweeping marble staircase.<\/p>\n Sightline <\/span>Forget selling sunset, real estate doesn\u2019t get more prime than this. The OWO faces Horse Guards \u2013 making this London\u2019s best spot to watch the Changing of the Guard in comfort \u2013 and is just a few minutes\u2019 stroll from Buckingham Palace.<\/p>\n Waistline <\/span>Stomachs beware \u2013 The OWO has tempted some top-notch Michelin-starred chefs to London. French restaurant Mirazur\u2019s Mauro Colagreco will make his UK debut, with three eateries including all-day Italian restaurant Paper Moon, while Endo Kazutoshi will run a rooftop restaurant and sake bar.\u00a0<\/p>\n Among its nine restaurants The OWO will also host offshoots of chic Parisian Caf\u00e9 Lap\u00e9rouse and Milan fashion haunt Langosteria.<\/p>\n Overseeing the hotel\u2019s look was Thierry Despont, the French interior designer and architect behind the 2016 Ritz Paris revamp and Statue of Liberty restoration in the 1980s<\/p>\n Power line<\/span> When it was the Palace of Whitehall, this place had bowling alleys, a cockpit and a pheasant yard.\u00a0As Raffles London at The OWO, recreation instead takes the form of Guerlain\u2019s first UK spa, a four-level affair including nine treatment rooms, gym and yoga studios and a 20m swimming pool.\u00a0<\/p>\n Health nuts can book in to the Lifestyle Suite, with room for yoga mats, TRX trainers and Peloton bikes, plus a specialised butler who can set up \u2018different types of baths, meditations and tea ceremonies\u2019 at any time of the day or night.\u00a0For non-residents, treatments start from \u00a3100.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/29\/13\/75975111-12566671-image-a-1_1695989589952.jpg\")
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