London Hotel Group (LHG) has acquired the former Greenwich Magistrates’ Court and neighbouring LSB buildings and submitted a planning application for a new £70 million, 293 bedroom hotel.
Image: Squire & Partners (Project Architects)
Greenwich news and information
London Hotel Group (LHG) has acquired the former Greenwich Magistrates’ Court and neighbouring LSB buildings and submitted a planning application for a new £70 million, 293 bedroom hotel.
Image: Squire & Partners (Project Architects)
Thanks to its eclectic markets, junk shops and local characters, Greenwich has long been known for its bohemian and vibrant spirit. If you’re visiting Greenwich and looking for a boutique hotel to make the stay a little bit different and memorable, here’s our guide to local offerings.
Number 16, St Alfege Passage
Number 16 is a character-filled bed and breakfast in St Alfege Passage, in the shadows of the beautiful St Alfege Church. Once a local corner shop, this B&B greets visitors with an attractive shop front style facade and a mish-mash of striking pot plants in the front garden (the topiary horse called Benson which was commissioned for London 2012 has now been put out to pasture). No 16 has three guestrooms – two doubles and one small single. Each of the room has its own individual colour scheme and design. Look out for tasteful wallpapers, interesting curios and high quality antique furniture.
The hosts Robert and Nic have crafted a delightful bed and breakfast, with the latter serviced in the handsome basement kitchen. The quiet, peaceful location belies the B&B’s excellent location, just a stone’s throw from the maritime attractions of Greenwich such as the Cutty Sark and the National Maritime Museum. If all this sounds familiar, it might be that you saw Number 16 when it was featured on the Hotel Inspector with Ruth Watson or any of the many other TV programmes that have been filmed here with host Robert such as Four in a Bed and Bargain Hunt.
Click here for pricing and availability at Number 16, St Alfege Passage
DoubleTree by London Hilton – Greenwich, Catherine Grove
The Greenwich Hotel is located in a quiet residential street called Catherine Grove, a short walk from Greenwich Railway Station. The property itself is a striking building which was once a Metropolitan Police section house, awarded a prize for its beautiful design. Extended and reimagined in 2012, this distinguished building has been sensitively turned in to a four star boutique hotel – at the larger end of the “boutique hotel” descriptor – which enjoys enviable views across Greenwich and south east London from its upper floors.
Click here for pricing and availability at The Greenwich Hotel
Work began on constructing the InterContinental London The O2 Hotel at North Greenwich in July 2013.
The new hotel will be right next to The O2 and over 400 high quality hotel rooms, a tower with 100 luxury serviced apartments and a huge ballroom and exhibition space.
The five star InterContinental London The O2 Hotel will be the closest hotel to the famous entertainment venue in what was the Millennium Dome when it opens to the public in 2015 and will have fantastic views of the Thames.
Until it opens, the closest hotels to The O2 are the Express by Holiday Inn Greenwich or the Pilot Inn public house.
The InterContinental London The O2 Hotel is expected to open in October 2015.
GREENWICH’s newest hotel is just weeks away from opening its doors to the public.
The new 145-room Mercure Greenwich hotel in Catherine Grove will welcome its first guests in November following a total transformation.
The 1930s building was originally a Metropolitan Police section house but had been empty for years until it was purchased by Periquin Ltd, owned by Lady Rona Delves Broughton.
The revamp has seen extensive internal refurbishment and redesign with the addition of two new floors at the top to create penthouse suites overlooking London.
The new four star hotel, where standard room rates start at £139 per night, also has a glamorous bar and restaurant which will both be open to the wider public as well as hotel guests.
Sales and Marketing Manager, Rachel Osborn, said: “We are thrilled to be opening The Mercure London Greenwich Hotel in such a marvellous part of London.
“The hotel design and refurbishment reflects our exceptional surroundings and the team here are ready and looking forward delivering true hospitality to all of our guests.”
First Look Inside The New Mercure Greenwich
The bar – open to the public as well as guests
The Greenwich Town House Hotel is a newly proposed 21-bed suite hotel in the heart of Greenwich.
If approved by local planners, the five star boutique hotel will be in Nelson Road, opposite Greenwich Market.
The operator hopes to open the Greenwich Town House Hotel by February 2012.
By Rob Powell
A planning application has been submitted to the council for a new boutique hotel in the heart of Greenwich town centre.
The Greenwich Town House Hotel would be a high end 21-suite hotel above Bar du Musée in Nelson Road.
Businessman Frank Dowling is behind the application and tells Greenwich.co.uk he is in “final negotiations” with a specialist boutique hotel operator.
The hotel will occupy the upper floors of 17-21 Nelson Road, a Grade-II listed terrace designed by Joseph Kay. No external structural work is required for the conversion and following a refit, the new hotel could be open as early as February 2012.
Bar du Musée, the first business bought in Greenwich by Dowling, will be incorporated as an upmarket restaurant within the new five star hotel.
But with the landowner, Greenwich Hospital Estate, having permission to build its own 100-bed boutique hotel across the road at Greenwich Market, and following news that a large boutique hotel was recently approved in Catherine Grove, are they worried about about the continued viability of their own scheme?
Edward Dolby, Resources Manager at Greenwich Hospital, tells Greenwich.co.uk that they have “no planning grounds on which to object to this scheme” and they believe there “will be sufficient demand” for their own boutique hotel which is due to completed by the end of 2014.
Greenwich.co.uk understands a firm commitment has already been made by a national equestrian federation to book out the Greenwich Town House Hotel in its entirety during next summer’s Olympics.
By Rob Powell
A planning application for a large hotel in west Greenwich has been backed by Greenwich Council.
The Council’s Planning Board last week gave planning consent for Maurice Drummond House in Catherine Grove to be converted into a hotel.
The eight storey building was originally built in the 1930s as accommodation for officers from the Metropolitan Police.
The new hotel will be called “The Greenwich” and will offer a “boutique” experience in its 168 rooms, according to documents submitted with the planning application.
The former section house received RIBA’s London Architectural Medal in 1946. The company behind the scheme is Periquin Limited, the sole director of which is Lady Rona Delves Broughton.
Greenwich Hospital recently won the the right to build a boutique hotel at Greenwich Market and another is planned within the Movement development at the corner of Norman Road and Greenwich High Road.
By Rob Powell
A Greenwich hotel has opened an “Academy of Hospitality” that will “train the future stars of hospitality.”
The training facility at Devonport House is De Vere‘s fifth such academy and the first based in London.
400 young people who are not currently in education or employment will receive training for careers in the hospitality sector at the Academy every year.
Richard Balfour-Lynn, Chief Executive of De Vere Group and Patron of the Academy said at the opening:
“As London, and in particular Greenwich, prepares for one of the biggest hospitality events in the world in 2012, it is perhaps particularly opportune that we are opening here today.
“We recognized the shortage of well trained, experienced individuals entering our business and therefore, through the Academy of Hospitality, our mission was simple: to create the right environment and training programme that would kick-start the career of many young people and give them all the tools they need to be outstanding in what they do.”
Councillor Denise Hyland, Cabinet member for Regeneration, Enterprise and Skills, commented:
“We welcome the opportunity to work closely with De Vere, not least because we share the common goal that skills and training programmes should truly open doors for participants.
“Greenwich Local Labour and Business, an agency supported by us to help local people access training and jobs, and are working closely with De Vere to recruit local young apprentices to the Academy and we look forward to seeing them graduate with a bright future at an exciting time for this sector in Greenwich.”
The Greenwich Academy of Hospitality is working in partnership with Greenwich Council, The Green Kitchen and Charlton Athletic FC and is supported by the National Apprenticeship Service.
By Rob Powell
The boss of the company that will run a new boutique hotel at Greenwich Market has spoken out about his plans for the venture.
Robin Sheppard, Chairman of Bespoke Hotels, has told boutiquehotels.co.uk that he wants to work with local people to make the project a success.
The proposal to redevelop the market and add a new 100 room hotel was initially thrown out unanimously by Greenwich Council’s Planning Board.
Local landlords, Greenwich Hospital, got this decision overturned, in spite of continued opposition, by taking a revised scheme to Independent Appeal.
Sheppard acknowledges that the planning process was “a difficult time” but adds that it’s “very important … that we work with the traders and the people of Greenwich.”
“Greenwich is such a beautiful place, there is so much history but as far as I can see it does not have much nightlife.”, he adds.
During the appeal procedure, concerns were raised that the noise of the market would be a problem for guests at the hotel but Sheppard maintains that “guests will be able to look down on the market, but the roof will act as an extra sound buffer.”
Bespoke Hotels is also the operator of the award winning Bermondsey Square Hotel. The full interview with Robin Sheppard can be read at boutiquehotels.co.uk
Work on the redevelopment project will begin in January 2013 and is expected to take a year.
By Rob Powell
Greenwich Council gave planning consent to a huge new hotel next to the O2 on the Greenwich Peninsula last night.
The 452 bedroom hotel will be accompanied by a tower of 100 serviced apartments and a 3000 sq ft ballroom.
Hundreds of new jobs are expected to be created at the new hotel which will have more bedrooms than Greenwich’s Holiday Inn, Novotel and Devonport House hotels combined.
The large ballroom will be used as an events space and designers claim it will compete with Park Lane hotels to attract “thousands of events to Greenwich”.
The apartments are residential properties with additional services provided such as laundry and hotel-style room service. The apartments will be sold on the open market and the owners will be able to choose whether or not to add them to the hotel’s pool of properties which it will manage and rent out to guests.
The site of the development is a 3 hectare plot of land directly to the west of the O2, previously known for planning purposes as N0301. It consists of three separate buildings in a stepped profile – the serviced apartments tower being the tallest of the three at 24 storeys.
Local MP, Nick Raynsford, offered a withering assessment of the designs when they were first unveiled earlier this year, describing them as “a complex of not very well related buildings which leave the impression of being a cross between a grain silo and a Soviet-era Palace of Culture”.
Modifications have been made to the design since then but the Greenwich Society and Greenwich Conservation spoke against the plans at last night’s meeting.
Philip Binns from the Greenwich Conservation Group told the meeting last night that the proposal was not the “impressive signature building” originally envisaged in the Greenwich Peninsula Masterplan.
John Franklin from the Greenwich Society said that they wanted to see “the best building with the very best impact” and that the hotel was supposed to have been “the dominant development”.
The Greenwich Peninsula Masterplan of 2004 envisaged a hotel building being the tallest building on the Peninsula and granted outline planning permission for it to be built up to a maximum height of almost 104 metres. The new proposed development will only reach 93 metres and won’t be the iconic tower some had hoped for.
Philip Sandilands, director of Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands, defended his plans, saying that a taller building “wasn’t feasible”, citing concerns over flight paths and the nearby pumping station. He said that the previous design had been “overbearing”.
Cllr Dermot Poston responded by saying that the hotel was “supposed to be the iconic plan of the Peninsula”. He commented that “the very nature of a tower is that it’s overbearing”. He told Mr Sandilands, “I don’t follow what you’re saying. It doesn’t make sense to me at all”, labelling the project as “an absolute disaster”.
Council Leader Chris Roberts said he was “comfortable” with the designs. He commented that development in the area had already deviated from the Masterplan with the tapered profile of the Ravensbourne College and Mitre Passage buildings to the east of the O2.
The proposal was voted through by the Planning Board on a majority of 5 – 2.
Councillors Chris Roberts, Denise Hyland, Steve Offord, Ray Walker and Jaghir Sekhon voted in favour of the application.
Councillors Dermot Poston and Geoff Brighty voted against.
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