Secret underground passages connect the hotel to Whitehall
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A 125-year-old London hotel, which was used as a temporary base by the British secret service during World War I, has reopened after a £16m revamp.
The Royal Horseguards Hotel is connected to Whitehall by underground passages used during the war.
Guests will now be offered guided tours of the building to learn about its secret past.
The 280-bed hotel on the River Thames will mark its reopening with a charity fundraiser on Thursday evening.
The hotel tours will also take in Gladstone Library, the National Liberal Club, as well as the passages used by politicians to secretly enter the Grade I listed building.
The hotel is located next to the MoD
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Former prime ministers Winston Churchill and William Gladstone, and writers such as HG Wells and George Bernard Shaw, have stayed at the Royal Horseguards, which was built in 1884 in the style of a French château.
The landmark hotel, which housed Churchill's favourite pub - the Duck and Goose - in its basement, is located next to the Ministry of Defence and doors away from Downing Street and Parliament.
Also featured in the 1983 Bond film Octopussy, it now forms
part of the Guoman Hotels chain.
About £25,000 raised from Thursday's event will be donated to Help for Heroes and The Household Cavalry Charitable Fund, which support British soldiers injured in conflicts.
Source: BBC News
