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Hugh Hefner |
Hef’s old Playboy HQ to be reborn as luxury hotel
ONCE home to the tail-feather shaking playboy bunnies, the former temple of hedonism that was Hugh Hefner’s HQ in Park Lane is to be transformed into a luxury hotel.
The Playboy Club, nicknamed “the Hutch on the Park” in its 1960s
heyday, once entertained the likes of Sean Connery, Michael Caine and George Best, before closing under a cloud of ignominy in 1982 after police raided an illegal gambling ring.
No evidence of wrongdoing ever emerged but the building has stood vacant ever since.
Last month planning chiefs at Westminster City Council gave the green light for developers to restore the Hyde Park-facing building to its former glory in the shape of a luxury hotel.
Under plans drawn up by The Dorchester Collection, the 48-room venue – which is yet-to-be named – will boast an art deco inspired interior and an art gallery.
The project will be in the capable hands of celebrity architect Thierry Despont, who can boast Bill Gates and Calvin Klein among his clients.
Mr Despont is set to make the make the hotel environmentally sustainable by reusing the existing building in his designs rather than demolition and a complete rebuild.
The outside of the concrete clad-building will be redesigned to be more in keeping with the neo-Georgian blocks lining the landmark street.
The Playboy Club, which also housed a casino, opened in 1966 and soon became a landmark of swinging London, the toast of high rollers and celebrities.
Councillor Robert Davis, cabinet member for planning said: “This is a tremendously exciting development which will turn a building which has lain empty for 13 years into a thriving business, attracting visitors from all round the world while creating jobs for the local economy.”
The Dorchester Collection owns and manages The Dorchester in Mayfair as well as the Beverly Hills Hotel in California and Le Meurice in Paris.
Work is due to start early next year. |
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