More rooms in London

Two prominent London hotels are planning almost 100 additional bedrooms between them after gaining approval from Westminster City Council to extend their properties and add more floors.

The Berkeley Hotel has been given the go-ahead to extend its Wilton Place premises with a seven-floor addition at the rear, which will boost the number of bedrooms from 168 to 215.

But a spokeswoman for the hotel, which is part of the Savoy group, said there was no firm date to start work.

The Howard hotel in Temple Place, now operated by Swissôtel, plans to extend its seventh floor and add two floors in a £6m refurbishment after the group signed a 20-year management agreement last May (Caterer, 16 March 2000, page 16).

This will boost bedrooms by 46 to 187, and includes a first-floor extension.