The Savoy Hotel in London was evacuated last night after staff discovered a suspect package.
Around 400 guests, including a large number of American tourists, were evacuated while police used a bomb-disposal robot to probe the device.
The package, found in a service lift just after 10pm, contained razor blades, nuts and bolts, and what appeared to be a timing device.
Officers later declared the package a hoax and after around 20 minutes guests were allowed to return to their rooms.
Kiaran MacDonald, general manager at the Fairmont-owned hotel, told the Daily Telegraph: “We found a suspicious object and called the emergency services who responded very quickly and said that we needed to evacuate the hotel.
“We followed our very detailed evacuation procedures fully. Within 15 minutes, a determination was made that it was a false alarm.”
Scotland Yard said no arrests had been made in connection with the incident.