London to get more rooms in 2005
London can expect to see about 1,600 new hotel rooms this year, according to a new report from Visit London.
The figure represents a slow-down on last year's 3,000 new rooms but still shows healthy expansion in the capital.
Most activity is likely to be in the second quarter of the year, with four new properties scheduled to open. They include the 462-bedroom Riverbank Park Plaza on Albert Embankment - one of the largest new hotels to open in London for 30 years - and the ultra-budget EasyHotel in Kensington where rooms will be available from £5 a night.
Other openings this year include Scottish company Apex Hotel Group's first London property, the 120-bedroom Apex City near Tower Bridge. There will also be a 64-bedroom extension to the Grange City Hotel in the same area.
Holiday Inn has plans to open two new hotels in the capital this year in Brentford and Earls Court.
London hotels set to open in 2005
Holiday Inn Express, Swiss Cottage | 78 bedrooms |
Holiday Inn, Brentford | 135 bedrooms |
Holiday Inn, Earls Court | 96 bedrooms |
Riverbank Plaza, Lambeth | 462 bedrooms |
EasyHotel, Kensington | 35 bedrooms |
Apex City, Tower Bridge | 122 bedrooms |
The Knightsbridge, Kensington & Chelsea | 198 bedrooms |
Premier Travel Inn, Abbey Mills | 132 bedrooms |
Novotel, Greenwich | 147 bedrooms |
Grange City, Tower Bridge | 64 bedrooms |
In & Out Club, Piccadilly | 101 bedrooms |
by Jessica Gunn
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