The hotel’s historical address was 12 Belsize Grove, London.
I spent my first and last nights in London at the Ormonde Hotel.
For most of his first week in London, Piet Mondrian stayed at the Ormonde Hotel. The London-based artist Naum Gabo had recommended it and booked him a room. Mondrian was a guest from 20 or 21 September to 26 September 1938. He then moved into a residential studio not far away, on Parkhill Road.
Bomb shelter
Two years later, Mondrian returned to the Ormonde Hotel to spend his last week in London there. The Germans had begun bombing London on 7 September 1940. Having decided to travel to New York, Mondrian moved out of his studio on 12 September to seek relative safety at the hotel, which had a solid basement shelter.
Sleeping in a chair
This time, rather than sleeping in a comfortable room, Mondrian sat in an armchair in the basement night after night, fully dressed, as the Blitz went on. It must have been a frightening experience.