Indian hotelier to expand in London

Set to open by the end of the year, The Lalit London will be situated in a grade II listed property, which previously housed Lambeth College and was designed by Edward Mountford, the architect of the Old Bailey.

Located near Tower Bridge, the building was originally built to house St Olave’s Grammar School but the modern interpretation will be overseen by Archer Humphryes, architects that have also worked on Chiltern Firehouse, the Great Northern Hotel and The Gainsborough Bath Spa Hotel.

The centrepiece of the hotel will be the former Great Hall, where the timber panelling, vaulted ceiling and gallery is being restored, with the space set to become the hotel’s pan-Indian restaurant, Baluchi, a signature of many of the group’s other hotels.

Its 70 guestrooms will vary in layout and rooms on the top floor will have 30-foot high ceilings, while being told to "go and stand outside the headmaster’s office" will also take on new meaning, with the old Headmaster’s Room on the first floor being transformed into a prestige suite.

The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group is headquartered in Delhi and opened its first hotel there in 1988. It is now India’s largest privately owned hotel group with 11 properties in the country.

Keshav Suri, executive director of The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, said: “My family has a karmic connection with this city, in fact all of us have grown up or studied in London.

“My father passed away here in 2006 and since then my mother, Dr Suri, and I have wanted to fulfil his wish of owning a hotel in London and I am glad that this is finally becoming a reality.”

The Lalit London will also have a gym, spa and cocktail bar.

The group plans to open further properties in Ahmedabad and Amritsar in India and in Koh Samui, Thailand.