Luxury housing scheme leaves hotel on the shelf
Plans to build London's first five-star hotel in more than a decade are in disarray after the owners of the site lodged plans to construct a luxury housing development instead.
Two years ago, Clementine Investments signed a deal with Raffles International to develop a Merchant Court Hotel on part of the former Westminster Hospital site. There was already outline planning permission to build a 534-room hotel on the prime site, which is bordered by Horseferry Road, Dean Ryle Street and Page Street.
The project began to look in doubt when the original architects and engineers began suing Clementine over alleged non-payment of fees. Westminster City Council said it was unlikely the hotel scheme would go ahead, a view that seemed to have been confirmed this week when it emerged that Clementine had applied to the council for permission to develop 185 luxury apartments and two retail units on the site.
However, Raffles International claims to be unaware of the change in Clementine's plans, which was highlighted by the research department of Estates Gazette magazine.
A Raffles International spokeswoman said: "As far as we know, Raffles International has signed a management contract with Clementine to manage the hotel. If, as you say, the owners have filed an application to build residential units, this is not in accordance with the contract and we will seek clarification with the owners."
Raffles International is the management subsidiary of Raffles Holdings, which owns one in 10 of the total inventory of luxury hotel rooms in Singapore. It also owns Browns hotel in London.
by Linley Boniface
Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 7-13 September 2000
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