Hard Rock’s Flag to Fly at Posh London Hotel

By Scott Baltic

London—Continuing its global expansion, Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos has added a property in London’s West End to its project pipeline, Hard Rock International announced late last week. The Hard Rock Hotel London will be a conversion of The Cumberland Hotel, which is currently owned by GLH Hotels, Hard Rock’s collaborator in the project.

Scheduled for a 2018 opening, the Hard Rock Hotel London will be a conversion of the Cumberland Hotel.

GLH plans to invest “tens of millions” of pounds sterling as part of the refurbishment, Commercial Property Executive has learned. The architect(s) and contractors reportedly have yet to be confirmed.

The Cumberland was itself developed from a restored 1920s-vintage building and frequently hosted the legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix. It currently features more than 1,000 guest rooms; the Hard Rock incarnation, scheduled for completion in summer 2018, will have 900 guest rooms.

Its location at Oxford Street and Park Lane puts the hotel across the street from Marble Arch and within walking distance of Hyde Park; Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum; shopping along Regent, Carnaby and Oxford streets—and the original Hard Rock Cafe from 1971.

“London has always been a special city as the birthplace of our brand,” Hamish Dodds, Hard Rock International CEO, said in a statement. “We look forward to completing the circle and establishing the Hard Rock Hotel in London….”

The Hard Rock Hotel will host live music events with both local and international artists and will also feature curated displays from a memorabilia vault containing some of the brand’s more than 80,000 pieces. It will also include an on-site Hard Rock Cafe and a Rock Shop, Rock Spa, signature restaurant and “sophisticated speakeasy.”

Hard Rock, whose parent company is owned by The Seminole Tribe of Florida, has 23 hotels worldwide and over the past year has announced 10 new hotel projects, in Abu Dhabi; Atlanta; Berlin; Dubai; Itapema, Brazil; Los Cabos, Mexico; Tenerife, Canary Islands; and Shenzhen, Dalian and Haikou, China.

GLH is London’s largest owner-operator hotel company with 15 properties, including, in addition to The Cumberland, luxury London hotels The Grosvenor Hotel, The Royal Horseguards and The Tower Hotel.