Lalit announces first overseas hotel
The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group has announced that London will be the site of its first overseas property.
Set to open in late 2016, The Lalit London will be located in a Grade II-Listed property originally designed by Edward Mountford, the architect of the Old Bailey. EPR Architects will oversee the 70-key property’s redevelopment and renovation, whilst Archer Humphryes will be responsible for the interior design. The five-star project aims to blend traditional Indian culture, hospitality and cuisine with the existing Victorian architecture and heritage.
Built in 1896, the hotel will be located on Queen Elizabeth Street near the approach to Tower Bridge. The edifice originally housed St Olave’s Grammar School and, more recently, Lambeth College. The Lalit London’s 70 guestrooms will all boast different designs and layouts, with the bedrooms on the top floor featuring 30-foot high ceilings. Elsewhere, the Headmaster’s Room on the first floor will be transformed into a luxury suite.
The centrepiece of this project will be the former great hall, where the timber panelling, vaulted ceiling and gallery are all being restored to provide the backdrop for Baluchi, The Lalit London’s pan-Indian restaurant. This signature concept, already in place in many of the brand’s hotels, will offer the capital a new destination restaurant, as well as providing guests with a high quality in-house dining option. The former Governors’ Room meanwhile, with its panelled walls and elaborate plaster ceiling, will be converted into a cocktail bar.
Overseen by Dr Jyotsna Suri, the group’s Chairperson & Managing Director, the new fixtures and fittings – from free standing carved screens to bedheads constructed from traditional fabrics – will utilise high-quality Indian artefacts and materials. The outside space is being transformed using topiary creations and Indian stone sculptures by The Lalit group’s longtime collaborator, Parisian landscape artist Olivier Vecchierini. Overlooked by The Great Hall, a spacious terrace will offer al fresco dining.
The Lalit London will also house Rejuve – The Spa. This facility will offer a complete holistic experience, encompassing aroma, ayurvedic, herbal and natural therapies, in addition to patented colour healing and yoga. Guests staying at the hotel will also be able to enjoy access to a state-of-the-art gym.
Keshav Suri, Executive Director of The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, comments: “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 is finally becoming a reality.”
