European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 27, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Cliveden House rubbing elbows with ghosts of the Rich and famous baking Cruger . Bureau one of England s most famous stately Homes Cliveden House the gathering place of patricians and politicians for , his thrown open its 300-year old doors to the Public As one of the country s most luxurious hotels. Not just any hotel mind you. After a $4.5 million ii Calif i Cliveden s edwardian heyday has been recreated in almost theatrical detail so that a Small number of guests will be Able to experience what living in a Large Well run English country House was really like. The staff predominantly British has been chosen to recapture the sort of service there was in the old country House Days. Even their titles belong to another age. There Are footmen valets and a Butler rather than waiters receptionists or Barmen. Indeed there is no reception area or bar. Liveries and uniforms will be familiar to viewers of the British to series upstairs Downs is. The Butler is Michael Holiday. He has the responsibility of running a staff of 27 who Are responsible for drink and food service As Well As the guests arrival. I will be there to meet guests when they arrive. The idea is to put guests at their Case right away because arrival at a stately Home can be rather daunting. Guests will gel to know that i m the one to come to when they want anything. In a Way Well have to train our guests to adapt to our Way of doing things which is not what they May be used to at other hotels he said. The Story is making the rounds that when the Earl of Stockton the former British prime minister Harold Macmillan was told by a Friend that Cliveden was to Fae converted into a hotel hi1, immediate reply was but my dear boy it always   and it seems so it . Queen Victoria was a frequent guest. The House played Host to George Bernard Shaw Henry James lord Balfour Winston Churchill Rudyard Kipling and Lawrence of Arabia. Macmillian was a frequent visitor to the famous country House set on a Cliff 200 feet above the thames and its 375-acre gardens and grounds when it was the Center of English political and glittering social activity a half Century ago. Cliveden has been the scene of gossip intrigue and mixed fortunes from its Start. A rather Nasty Duel was fought there two fires Devastey it the first Public performance of Rule Britannia was heard there in 1740 and from 1966 until the lease ran out in 1984 the House served As the British Campus of Stanford University. The House was purchased in 1893 by the american Multi millionaire William Waldorf Astor and Given As a wedding present to his son Waldorf and his wife Nancy Langhorne. The actors continued the House s reputation for lavish parties and close involvement with politics and literature but it was the inter War social reign of Nancy lady Astor who became the first woman member of parliament that brought the House its first bit of modern notoriety. In the 1930s it was the Headquarters of the so called Cliveden set which included the unashamedly fascist sir Oswald Moseley that was associated with Calls for appeasement with Hitler s Germany. In the Early 1960s the Cliveden estate in particular its cottage by the River rented by or. Stephen Ward became the site of the notorious Profumo affair which led to the resignation of War minister John Profumo and the dubious immortal nation of Good time girls Christine Keeler and Mandy Rice Davies. There beside the Pool on a sultry evening in july Profumo was introduced to the Semi nude 19-year old Keeler. Although they were members of separate parties when they met their Chance meeting was to result in one of the most talked about scandals of the Century one that very nearly brought Down the government of the Day. The House now is owned by Britain s National Trust. It acquired it in 1942, though the third Viscount Astor stayed living there until 1966. The Trust has granted the hotel operators Blakeney Cliveden House has hosted some of the world s most famous guests. Hotels ltd., a 45-year lease Over the building. Blakeney has spent More than $3 million on furniture Central Healing electrical work and bathrooms. The Public will continue to be Able to visit the grounds As before and on two afternoons a week thursday and sunday from april to october will have limited Access to the ground floor of the hotel As Well. Guests hotel Bills will include a 2 Pound about $2.90 entry fee thai will be passed on to the Trust. However guests should t feel the Pinch of the entry fee Loo much for they will be paying anywhere from 150 pounds about $220 for a double bedded or Iwin bedded room to 350 pounds about $514 per night for a magnificent suite. The prices do include a breakfast of such delicacies As wild mushrooms ked Geree Devil led kidney and Home made brioche. Meals arc extra at 20 pounds about $29.40 for lunch and 35 pounds about $51.50 for dinner. Guests will eat in the dining room not restaurant please and there will be no printed menus. The food promises to be a treat under the direction of John Webber the 34-year-old head chef who trained under famed Anton Mosimann at London s Dorchester hotel. Each of the 27 rooms or suites has been separately designed. They arc luxurious but tasteful and comfortable. Each Ordinary double room measures 30 feet by 20 feet and its erstwhile dressing room has been converted into a bathroom with King sized Bath open fireplace mahogany seated toilet and opulent carpeting. Every room in the House has been filled with turn of the Century furniture and ornaments from antique shops and Sale rooms. Throw rugs Are everywhere along with huge sofas and writing tables and lots of Good Low lighting. Art treasures Worth at least $2.2 million the John Singer Sargeant portrait of Nancy Astor alone would probably fetch an estimated $1.5 million on the open Market have been Lent by the Astor family the National Trust and private collectors. Manager John Sinclair 32, appears to Lack neither experience nor class for the Job. He spent the last five years As manager of the Lancaster hotel in Paris and is heir to Viscount Thurso. Sinclair Hopes guests will dress for dinner but leaves everything up to them. We create the atmosphere and Hen we leave it to the client to choose he said. What happens when it s time to Check out of the hotel rest assured that nothing so coarse As a Bill will be in sight. Instead the Butler or manager will discreetly slip the guest an envelope containing the bad news. Following a series of private dinner parties and slays by invited guests Cliveden House hotel located just outside Maidenhead 25 Miles West of London will open to the general Public on March 5. For further information Telephone Burnham. England 06286 68561. A the restaurant at Cliveden House is referred to Ai the it the Entrance and reception Hall have the air of i 10 stripes Magazine february 27,7986