Tophams hotel to relaunch as luxury hotel with private residences
The 50-bedroom Tophams hotel in London's Belgravia is to undergo a substantial refurbishment to create a 60-bedroom luxury property, with links to an undisclosed number of a branded private residences.
MC (Marbella Club) Hotel Group, which bought Tophams in Ebury Street last year through a newly launched company, Imperial Kensington, is now actively looking to acquire and develop further luxury hotels and branded residences in Mayfair, Knightsbridge, Belgravia, Chelsea and Kensington.
The company currently has a portfolio of 30,000 square feet of private residences in London which will be sold to private owners who will be able to purchase club membership of the MC Hotel Group, enabling access to a range of concierge services as well as the new restaurant and Martini bar at the re-designed Tophams hotel.
Daniel Shamoon, founder of MC Hotels, explained: "Despite the market being very strong, we see continued growth and opportunities in the real estate and luxury hotel sectors in London."
Once the haunt of nearby resident Ian Fleming of James Bond fame, Tophams is expected to close for a period of 18 to 24 months for the refurbishment, reopening in late 2014 or early 2015.
Shamoon explained that the Imperial Kensington company name had been taken from the Imperial Kensington, a hotel formerly owned by his family in the 1960s. The hotel was eventually demolished, but the family went on to establish a real-estate business in London, which included the ownership of restaurants and nightclubs.
MC Hotel Group owns and operates eight hotels in mainland Europe and Morocco including the Marbella Club Resort in Marbella, Hotel El Lodge in the Sierra Nevada Ski Resort, Schlosse hotel in Tallinn and Grand Palace hotel in Riga. It is currently creating its first hotel and branded residences at the Hotel Puerte Romano in Marbella, which will be used as a template for the re-development of Tophams.
The company has also launched an online package for tablet and mobile devices called Virtual Hotels by Cardola, which enables guests to personalise the way they order food, drink and others services in hotels. London's May Fair hotel has become the first property outside of the MC Hotel Group to acquire the package.
Details of luxury hotel in City of London announced >>
By Janet Harmer
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