Roisters in the Cloisters
THE glossy brochure for Chelsea Cloisters makes its upmarket credentials perfectly clear. Situated in one of London’s prime locations, a stone’s throw from Harrods and Kensington Palace, the 250 serviced apartments are claimed to offer “superb” accommodation.
Discerning clients who are willing to pay upwards of £200 a night are promised the sort of discreet luxury normally associated with a top hotel. However, it has been revealed that the block, owned by a donor to the Conservative Party, may be attracting a very different type of client.
It is claimed that Chelsea Cloisters has become a haven for more than 100 prostitutes who are using the flats for their trysts.
The scandal is a huge embarrassment for one of Britain’s richest men, Christopher Moran, who is estimated to have a fortune of more than £400million and has donated almost £300,000 to the Tories.
There is no suggestion he is involved in the alleged prostitution. The 70-year-old has been made aware of complaints. Past efforts by estate managers to clamp down on the illicit activities are said to have been ineffectual.
Mr Moran, a property developer who has rubbed shoulders with royalty, is reported to make about £8million revenue from renting the flats to businessmen, tourists – and, without his knowledge, the working girls.
In a statement Mr Moran, who has an office at Chelsea Cloisters, said he had a zerotolerance approach to prostitution. In the past tenants who have been found to be using the flats as a front for selling sex and escort services have been evicted.
YET the presence of the vice girls is said to be widely known in the neighbourhood with Chelsea Cloisters being dubbed “10 floors of whores”. It is also been claimed that the sheer scale of the operation could bestow on Chelsea Cloisters the unwanted title “Britain’s biggest brothel”.
Two escort agencies offering girls for up to £300 an hour are even said to have their addresses within the block. One, called 24 Hour London Escorts, plays on the exclusive location by boasting on its website: “For the punters that know best Chelsea Cloisters in London SW3 has always been a notorious place for accommodating sexy London escorts. And the tradition continues today.”
Agency Caprice also claims it is based in the building, stating: “You can’t miss it – it’s the building teeming with escorts and rosycheeked men with empty wallets.”
Investigators were reportedly able to make 40 bookings with prostitutes in the block of flats. Many of the prostitutes are from Eastern Europe.
Mr Moran’s sons, Charles and Jamie, manage Chelsea Cloisters, which has a total of 670 apartments. About 250 of them available on short-term lets.
The building, which has a central courtyard, has its own cocktail bar. Guests have access to an exclusive spa in nearby Sloane Avenue and some of the capital’s leading restaurants are on their doorstep.
Legitimate wealthy tenants are furious that the block has seemingly become a hotbed of vice. One complained: “There are gangs of pimps laughing and joking and threatening while their ‘property’ is inside being abused by wealthy men.
“I have complained about are this activity many times to MPs, the Mayor of London and police and nothing is done.”
On one review site a guest complained earlier this year of being solicited in the corridors by a male prostitute. The public relations manager at the apartments replied: “We are shocked to hear about your experience while staying with us.”
Yesterday Tory Party officials were facing calls to return cash donated by Mr Moran. He lives in a 15th-century mansion on the River Thames about half an hour’s drive from Chelsea Cloisters.
The property tycoon bought the building in 1989, getting the freehold for just £100,000, and has spent a fortune on renovations. The Queen and former prime minister David Cameron have been visitors to his 30-bedroom home, Crosby Hall, while he also owns a shooting estate in Scotland.
Mr Moran, who has worked with Prince Charles on charity projects in the past, ranks 316th in the latest Sunday Times Rich List.
He arrives at his office in a chauffeur driven Rolls-Royce. Grammar school-educated Mr Moran once sold dinner for 12 at Crosby Hall for £25,000 to raise funds for the Conservative Party. His website states: “Besides his business interests, Christopher has a strong commitment to wider society supporting institutions in a wide range of sectors including national heritage, arts, health and wellbeing, faith and international relations.”
Mr Moran’s lawyers said Chelsea Cloisters operates a zero-tolerance policy towards prostitution on its premises and any suggestion that Mr Moran or the management has, or would, knowingly allow or even tolerate the premises being used for prostitution would be utterly false.