First Room2 ‘premium hometel' concept to be centrepiece of Fulham Town Hall restoration

Room2's first ‘premium hometel' concept has agreed a 30-year lease to be the headline tenant at the restored Fulham Town Hall in London.

Fulham Town Hall by Room2 will have 90 rooms as well as a mix of event and co-working spaces, food and beverage offerings, and is due to open in early 2022.

Rooms will be located across the restored wings of the Grade II-listed building with construction expected to commence in May, subject to planning permission.

The venue is said to be "heavily influenced by the latest in sustainable building design". Most rooms will have kitchenettes, and guests will also be able to select their own type of mattress and check in via mobile. Residences will be available from one night to over a year.

Fulham Town Hall was constructed of Portland stone in a classical style between 1888 and 1890 and extended between 1904 and 1905. The building was acquired by property company Ziser in 2019.

The brainchild of brothers Robert and Stuart Godwin, former members of the British Olympic Development Sailing team, ‘hometels' combine "the best elements from Airbnb, serviced apartments and boutique hotels in an offering designed to appeal equally to corporate and leisure guests and those seeking alternative forms of residential accommodation".

Fulham Town Hall by Room2 will be the fifth hometel when it opens. Room2 has two operational sites, the Southampton Hometel and Hammersmith Townhouse in London, with an 89-room hometel in Chiswick scheduled to open in Q2 2021, followed by a 59-key Manchester offering.

Robert Godwin, co-founder of Room2, said: "As our first premium hometel, Fulham Town Hall by Room2 is a natural evolution of our business model and demonstrates our ability to curate the product to fulfil a range of guest needs. We are incredibly excited by the potential complementary mix of operators being lined up to join us, bringing together like-minded experts focused on delivering discerning customers a world class experience."

Guy Ziser, chief executive of Ziser London, added: "We are excited to have Room2 on board for its first high end location in London; we believe hometels to be a forward thinking product which will complement the other proposed uses within Fulham Town Hall."

Room2 is the third residential brand launched by the Lamington Group, an independent family-owned real estate investment and development company founded in the 1960s.

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