A fire has engulfed a luxury five star hotel with dozens of people being evacuated from the celebrity hotspot.
The blaze tore through the ground floor and up to the roof of the Chiltern Firehouse in Marylebone, in central London because the building’s extraction system was on fire, firefighters said.
A statement from the fire service reads: “Four fire engines and around 25 firefighters have been called to a fire at a hotel and restaurant at Chiltern Street in Marylebone. The ducting in the extraction system from the ground floor to the roof of the building is alight.
“Around 100 people were evacuated before the Brigade arrived.” Firefighters arrived at the hotel at about 2.52pm with crews from Soho, Euston and Paddington attending the blaze. The cause of the fire is not known at this time.”
An employee at a shop in Chiltern Street told The Metro: “The roof is fully on fire. It is really f*****. It is not under control any more and everyone is evacuating.”
The fire is understood to have started just hours ahead of the Valentine’s Day dinner service. The Chiltern Firehouse is a hotel and restaurant that is popular with celebrities and royals. The hotel and restaurant are in a former fire station inside a Grade II listed building, reports the Mirror.
It was previously described as London’s “hottest celebrity handout” after it opened in 2013. Celebrities who have visited the hotel include Lewis Capaldi and Princess Beatrice.
American Andre Balazs owns the hotel as well as two in the US, the Sunset Beach Hotel on Shelter Island, in New York, and Chateau Marmont in Hollywood, California.