A hotel lifestyle in your own home
Life in flats is creeping ever closer to life in a hotel. Some apartment blocks that used to offer just a concierge now offer room service. Some property developers offer their owners and tenants special rates on flats in their other developments, for a two-centre way of life. The rise of the lock-up-and-leave tenant means hotel-style service is becoming the norm.
Estate agent Russell Simpson recently offered a one-bedroom mezzanine apartment in Lancaster Gate for £950 per week, half the price of a typical fivestar hotel suite.
A one-month stay in a basic suite at The Connaught, Mayfair would total £30,600 a month, while a month in a similar room at The Ritz would cost £77,700.
Charlie Woods, senior lettings director at Russell Simpson, says: “Typically an apartment like this one at 55 Lancaster Gate will attract a professional either commuting into London during the week, from overseas on secondment or frequently visiting the capital for business.”
This kind of property tends to sell well. Belvedere Gardens, the third residential phase at Southbank Place, just behind the London Eye, has sold 70 per
cent of its 400-plus apartments since its launch a year ago. It includes 97 river-front homes with views of the Houses of Parliament.
Between Waterloo and County Hall, the scheme has hotel-style features, including an 18,000 sq ft residentsonly health and fitness facility — as well as interiors designed by Goddard
Littlefair in the style of a five-star hotel spa. It will include steam and sauna rooms, a gym, a 25m swimming pool, treatment rooms, a wet room and individual exercise rooms and has flexible space to meet ever-changing fitness trends.
There is also a hair and beauty bar and spa treatment room for those in
need of some rest and relaxation.
Owners at Belvedere Gardens will have access to a private screening room, residents’ lounge and an opulent outdoor terrace, providing an intimate space for social gatherings and business meetings.
With all the one-bedroom apartments sold and only the last few two- and three-bedroom apartments remaining, prices start from £2.145 million.
Some developers make an on-site hotel part of their developments of new flats and houses.
On the South Coast, for instance, property developer Fresh Lime and hotel operator Malmaison Hotel du Vin have signed an agreement to develop a new Malmaison hotel on the prime site of Fresh Lime’s hotel and apartment scheme in Bournemouth.
Planning permission for this site in Bath Road was obtained in May, for a mixed-use hotel and high-quality apartment scheme. Work is due to begin next year.
The new Malmaison hotel will offer more than 100 bedrooms and suites. It will also bring to Bournemouth the culinary delights of the Chez Mal Bar and Brasserie, with a rooftop bar and terrace overlooking the Bournemouth sea front.
Demolition is due to start this month and building will commence in early 2018 and is expected to take around 24 months.
The first property development types to get the hotel treatment were retirement homes and foreign holiday resorts. Now it is becoming the norm for all flats and even some houses in London.