The council has been inundated with planning requests for new hotels in advance of the London Olympics, according to its inward investment agency.
Carolyn Paul of Invest in Hackney has told The Hackney Post that more than 1,000 new hotel rooms will open in the borough over the next two years, as the hospitality industry rushes to cash in on the 2012 event.
Many of the proposed sites are in Shoreditch and Hoxton due to their close proximity to the City of London.
The British Hospitality Association says more than 17,000 new hotel rooms will be needed in London before 2012, particularly in eastern parts of the city.
Premier accomodation
Premier Inn, one of the UK’s biggest budget hotel firms, has already confirmed it will open 13 new hotels in London, including sites in Old Street and Stratford.
The Stratford construction, housing 267 guestrooms next to the Olympic Stadium, is costing £25m and will create 90 jobs.
Alan Parker, chief executive of Whitbread, said: “Securing this first-class location adjacent to the Olympic Stadium is a great result for us.”
It is understood there has also been serious interest from another mass-market hotel operator to open a site in Hackney Central, though planning applications have yet to be submitted.
A vacant magistrates court on Old Street is to be converted into tourist accommodation, there are plans for new hotels in East Road and City Road, and the Hoxton Hotel also confirmed to the Post it plans to expand.
Paul, who serves as an inward investment consultant, said Hackney’s economy will benefit.
“Hotels are a good barometer of the health of the area,” she said. “People don’t just stay in the hotel, they dine in restaurants, they go shopping and they bring in cash. It can be good if businesses position themselves properly.
She said the council was pleased by the employment opportunities the hotel boom is creating.
“Hotels can work for the long-term unemployed and people with families who need flexible hours. This is something Hackney is happy to have,” she said.
However, she admitted the rash of new hotels opening in the borough could bring problems too.
“If laundry trucks are driving around at 5am residents aren’t going to be happy,” she conceded. “There could be a danger of the borough turning into a dormitory.”
Additional reporting by Marion Dakers
Its good to see large hotel groups have confidence to expand in the area. Interesting to note that the hotel rooms being created are at the budget end of the market. The questions is, what is going to happen to 17,000 extra hotel rooms in London after 2012 and the Olympics are over?
It's too late – Express Inn already has a hotel in Shoreditch. Get out while you still can.
I think having all these big firms coming in ruins the whole atmosphere of the area. it would be nice to keep the character of Hackney (where that atmosphere is nice!).
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