Westminster City Council has approved plans by Criterion Capital to transform the Trocadero Centre at London’s Piccadilly Circus into a hotel with around 500 bedrooms on seven floors, above shops on the ground floor, and residential flats on the first and mezzanine levels.
The plans include a new rooftop bar on the top (ninth) floor.
Most of the hotel rooms will be from 9 to 17 square metres in size, and windowless – hence the description as ‘pods’, the compact design concept associated with city centres and Japan.
Since the late seventeenth century, the Trocadero has housed tennis courts, theatres, restaurants, hotels and music halls. In the late 1990s, it hosted the first 3D IMAX cinema in the UK, and a large amusement arcade called Segaworld, which became Funland in 1999.
Cllr Heather Acton of Westminster said: “This scheme will help to breathe new life into one of London’s most famous buildings.
“The Trocadero is historically renowned for bringing entertainment to the city, and a new concept hotel will form a very welcome addition to the area, enabling more people to enjoy the vibrant West End for shopping, entertainment and culture.”