Hotel dropped from new Wembley plan

The plan for a 200-bedroom hotel to be included in the redevelopment of Wembley Stadium has been scrapped.

A spokesman for Hilton Group, which had an agreement to operate the proposed four-star hotel, said: "It's a disappointment, but we have no capital investment whatsoever in Wembley."

Originally, the Football Association (FA) appointed Chelsea Football Club chairman Ken Bates to oversee Wembley's future. He favoured building a complex similar to Chelsea's stadium, which has a hotel, conference centre and other leisure facilities. Bates commissioned Norman Foster to design the new stadium, and architectural plans were unveiled in July 1999.

But facing spiralling costs, the FA has reportedly now cut back on the Foster design by abandoning the hotel. It has agreed new financial deals with construction firm Multiplex, which is raising £400m of the total £700m budget.

The FA is expected to announce its new plan for Wembley Stadium next week.

Hilton said it was concentrating on other projects. The 355-bedroom Hilton Paddington in London is due to open at the end of January, 21 months later than originally planned. The group also has management contracts for hotels being built in Newcastle and Manchester.

by Ben Walker

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 13 - 19 December 2001