December 6, 2012 - This Christmas, Regent Street welcomes Café Royal, re-launched as a contemporary, luxury hotel after a four-year restoration seamlessly weaving together original 1865 details with modern design, paying homage to the architectural heritage of the building.  Featuring over 150 rooms and six historic suites, a variety of dining venues, a private members club, meeting rooms and a Holistic Wellbeing Centre, Café Royal bears every trait of a 21st century luxury hotel.

Regent Street continues to build on it’s reputation as one of the premier shopping and lifestyle destinations in the world, with many global brands choosing to call this famous shopping thoroughfare their home. With an exciting year that saw the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee as well as the London Olympic and Paralympic Games, 2012 has also seen the launch of new brands in the area, including the latest edition, Café Royal.

On 13 November, Team GB and ParalympicGB athletes switched on the Regent Street Christmas lights. A new design for 2012 now lights the night sky for the ultimate magical Christmas shopping experience. Decorated with gold holly and red berry garlands, celebratory tributes to the Olympic and Paralympic teams hang from the sky, and interspersed along the street gold filigree plaques telling the story of the Twelve Days of Christmas. For the first time ever the Regent Street Christmas Lights are displayed along the full length of Regent Street, from Oxford Circus all the way down to Piccadilly Circus, before continuing south down Regent Street in St James’s.

This year has seen the launch of new shopping initiatives on Regent Street including the Regent Street Gift Card, accepted in over 130 stores, hotels and restaurants, the Regent Street Shopping App to help navigate the area, and the recently launched ‘hands-free shopping’ which allows customers to shop and have their bags delivered home for a flat fee of £30. These exclusive opportunities ensure the shopping experience on Regent Street is unlike anywhere else in the world. regentstreetonline.com