A dear friend, Henry Togna had a hotel in Jermyn St - Number 22 - as did his parents before him. It sadly closed in October 2009 as its long lease (from the Crown Estates) was up and the building (known as Eyrie Mansion) was to be rebuilt.
Number 22 was particularly favoured by Americans who returned to it year by year, loving its old-fashioned charm and more recently under Henry, its carefully refurbished comforts. One of those was Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times, who has written a most beautiful piece in praise of the hotel and the streets of London around it. You can read it by clicking the heading. And if you have time, don't miss some of the many comments below the article, added by other American visitors to London who clearly hold it as dear as he does, sometimes in as fine a prose as his.
