Hollywood legend Robert De Niro is planning to build an 83-room luxury boutique hotel in London’s Covent Garden.
The actor has partnered with development firm Capital & Counties Properties (Capco) and hospitality operator BD Hotels for the project, called The Wellington Hotel.
A planning application has been submitted to Westminster City Council for consideration. The proposed hotel, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, would span six adjacent buildings within the Covent Garden Conservation Area, three of which are Grade II listed.
Spa facilities, two restaurants, a café and a members’ club would be built around a central courtyard conservatory.
The buildings’ historic façades would be retained and incorporated into the new hotel to create a new space – a strategy that De Niro and business partners Ira Drukier and Richard Born used for The Greenwich Hotel in New York’s Tribeca district.
“London is one of the most exciting and cosmopolitan cities in the world,” said De Niro. “It makes perfect sense to develop a hotel that represents all of that in the heart of this city in Covent Garden. The Wellington Hotel would honour the heritage of the area, while bringing the best of what we’ve done in New York to London”.
Sarah-Jane Curtis, director of Capco Covent Garden, added: “Robert De Niro and BD Hotels have emerged as the world’s leading luxury hoteliers, so The Wellington Hotel is a hugely exciting prospect for London which continues to see strong demand for inventive boutique retreats.
“This would be our first landmark hotel for the estate and a new icon for the city, continuing our commitment to enliven Covent Garden with bespoke offerings from both global and British brands”.
If the plans are approved by the council, work would begin on the development in 2017, with construction being completed in 2019.
Outside of his work in Hollywood, De Niro is a prolific developer of hotels. He is currently developing a US$250m (€223m, £158.8m)
hotel and spa resort in Barbuda, the lesser known twin island to Antigua, and is
a co-founder of restaurant and hotel group Nobu Hospitality.
