October 30, 2009

The New Buzz In London: The £270 Million Corinthia Hotel Project

The Corinthia Hotel in London is fast becoming the talk of the town, as early visitors invited to tour the project site absorb the scale, magnitude and opulence of the massive project underway.

The £270 million development is one year away from completion, and works are progressing to plan. The 40,000 square meter site has been entirely stripped down, partially demolished and is now being rebuilt and fitted out. The project is being hailed as the first new grand hotel to be built in London for over a century. The building itself is a landmark, formerly the Ministry of Defence straddling Northumberland Avenue and Whitehall Place, with panoramic views over Trafalgar Square, the River Thames and all of the major sights of Whitehall. The Corinthia Hotel will feature a 300-bedroom luxury hotel, having the largest bedrooms in London, and including 45 suites, some of which located on duplex floors inside the historic turrets and serviced by private lifts and private terraces. A 3,000 square meter spa, unique in its design and scope, will complement the hotel. Furthermore, 12 ambassadorial apartments, the largest one occupying over 1000 square meters, are being developed at the luxury end of the market, for eventual use as prime residences in central London.

As works progress, select members of the London establishment, opinion formers and associates of Corinthia are being invited regularly to visit the project and see for themselves the new hotel unfolding before their eyes. The first such gathering was held last week, when senior directors from Barclays, Goldman Sachs, Coutts and Credit Suisse together with invitees from Harrods and the Prince’s Regeneration Trust, were given a tour of the project personally conducted by Alfred Pisani, chairman of the Corinthia Group. At the end of the tour, the guests were hosted to a sumptuous lunch prepared on site in a temporary kitchen by Massimo Riccioli, the celebrated chef owner of La Rosetta Restaurant in Rome, Italy, who has agreed to personally relocate to London to be the chef patron of the specialty restaurant at the Corinthia Hotel London.

The Corinthia Hotel & Residences in London is scheduled to open in the last quarter of 2010.

TOP: VIPS IN LONDON ENJOY PRE-OPENING LUNCH PERSONALLY HOSTED BY ALFRED PISANI, CHAIRMAN OF THE CORINTHIA GROUP. MASSIMO RICCIOLI, THE CELEBRATED CHEF OWNER OF LA ROSETTA RESTAURANT IN ROME, WHO WILL PERSONALLY BE THE CHEF PATRON OF THE SPECIALTY RESTAURANT AT THE CORINTHIA HOTEL LONDON, PREPARED THE LUNCH IN A TEMPORARY KITCHEN ON SITE.

BELOW: ALFRED PISANI, CHAIRMAN OF THE CORINTHIA GROUP, GIVES PERSONAL TOUR OF THE CORINTHIA HOTEL LONDON PROJECT TO VIPS. JOINING PISANI IS MASSIMO RICCIOLI, CELEBRATED CHEF OWNER OF LA ROSETTA RESTAURANT IN ROME, NEW CHEF PATRON OF THE SPECIALTY RESTAURANT TO BE LOCATED ON SITE.