Midland is Grand again

This is how St Pancras's famous hotel will look after a £100 million restoration and refurbishment, set to be approved by Camden council today.

The plans will transform the crumbling former Midland Grand - which is listed Grade I - into a luxurious hotel. There will also be 68 flats on the site costing up to £1.5 million each.

Camden's planners strongly support the scheme. Project architect Geoff Mann said today: "St Pancras is the best known and best loved neo-Gothic building in London, if not the world. This refurbishment will safeguard its future for generations to come."

Work on the site is expected to start early next year, and the hotel and apartments will be open for business in 2008 - following the launch of the new high-speed rail link from St Pancras station to Europe.

The restored St Pancras hotel will have 245 bedrooms and will be part of the Marriott chain. It will include some of the most important historical rooms and the building's stunning grand staircase. The dining rooms will be restored to their former glory, right down to the precise colour scheme of the walls and carpets, and will be open to the public.

The 68 private flats - which will be above the main hotel, with magnificent views to the south towards Westminster, the east to Canary Wharf and the north to Hampstead - are being built by developer Manhattan Loft and architects RHWL. All will have original features and be priced between £400,000 and £1.5 million.

The Midland Grand Hotel was commissioned by the Midland Railway Company and built between 1868 and 1876 to the design of Sir George Gilbert Scott, who spared no expense.

In the mid-Sixties British Rail wanted to demolish the building and was stopped only by a public campaign led by Sir John Betjeman, later Poet Laureate.

It was renamed as St Pancras Chambers and used as BR offices until 1985. Between 1992 and 1996, more than £9 million of public funds were spent on emergency measures to prevent it falling down.