K West hotel in Shepherd's Bush to undergo £40m revamp and rebrand
The K West hotel in London's Shepherd's Bush is to undergo a £40m renovation before reopening as a Hotel Indigo-branded property.
The Lancaster London Hotel Company, which operates independent hotels including the Landmark and Royal Lancaster, has taken the decision to invest in the rebranding of the property to compete with planned new openings in the area.
Fergus Stewart (pictured, right), who oversees the Lancaster Landmark Hotel Company's properties as chief executive as well as running the Landmark hotel, told The Caterer that the partnership with IHG would enable what is currently K West hotel to compete with new openings in an emerging area of the city for hotel operators.
He added: "We felt being independent in amongst that competition would be challenging.
"Through my experience with IHG we think Indigo is the perfect brand for us. It's quirky enough to allow us to be quite natural, feels independent enough for us to go in our own direction underneath that brand and there's nothing cookie cutter about it."
Stewart said that though the Lancaster London Hotel Company was a "fiercely independent hotel company" he believed "there's a great opportunity for that type of lifestyle brand in that part of the city".
"We will put £40m plus into the hotel so it's not an investment that the owners are looking to sell in the short term," Stewart said.
"It's a complete refurb, stripping the hotel down to its bare bones and reconfiguring the bedroom size, restaurant size and spa size as well as spending a lot of money on up to date electrical and plumbing systems that meet our sustainability objectives. We're not building it for today, we're building it for ten years' time."
The project is currently at the design stage and the hotel will be formally closed in 12 months' time, before reopening at an Indigo branded property in spring 2025.
