Wrenaissance
It’s a merry jumble of pre Georgian and Georgian and neo Georgian buildings spanning centuries of sash windowed elegance. At the core of Sir Christopher Wren Hotel in the Royal County Town is a red brick two storey eight bay house with a three bay pedimented breakfront containing a Tuscan porch facing onto Thames Street. A painted inscription claims the building dates from 1676 and was the home of the architect of St Paul’s Cathedral London. Its façade looks younger: stylistically early 18th century. Sir Christopher Wren also likely designed the Guildhall in Windsor.
The house became locally known as The Haunted House when it fell vacant in the early 20th century before it was bought by the Misses Outlaw in the 1920s. Clearly unperturbed by any ghostly rumblings, the two sisters ran turned it into the Riverholme Restaurant and Guesthouse. Changing hands over later decades, the hotel expanded to back onto the River Thames. Sarova Hotels purchased the hotel in 2011 and carefully restored it. The riverside brasserie in Sir Christopher Wren Hotel is the best place in Windsor for afternoon tea. Save, perhaps, for an invite from Her Majesty to sup at nearby Windsor Castle.
