We wanted to leave a legacy in London: Sanjay Hinduja
The Hinduja Group, which in 2014 acquired Winston Churchill’s war office (Old War Office) during the World War II and has now turned it into an iconic hotel, is looking at monetising the residences part of the unit.
The iconic hotel, which has been developed in collaboration with Raffles Hotels & Resorts, has three business streams – luxury hotel, food and beverages, and residential units.
Sanjay said that so far several Chinese, American, African and European nationals have bought residences, but no Indian has shown interest.
The story of Hindujas becoming owners of a hotel, an area where they have been investors so far, is also interesting. The four brothers – Srichand (died in May this year), Gopichand, Prakash and Ashok – are regular morning walkers in London’s James park. It was at one such walk in 2014 that the brothers saw the building and decided to bid for it. They were the last to put in the bid, which emerged as the highest.
Asked why they got into acquiring the building and turning it into a hotel, Sanjay said that the Hinduja family wanted to leave a legacy in London, a city which has many attractions.
It took the Group eight years to develop the project as they needed several approvals from the British government at every stage of development as the building is a heritage site. The formal inauguration took place on September 26.
On acquiring more such iconic, heritage sites and developing them into luxury hotels-cum-residences, Sanjay said that so far they have not looked outside the UK. “Our team is based in London. Maybe if something iconic comes up in Paris, we may consider it,” he said. At the moment, the Group has not considered any such project in India.
Sanjay said that the hotel boasts of several iconic brands, which have for the first time entered the London market.
Asked why the Group chose to partner with the Raffles Group and not any India hospitality chain, chairman GP Hinduja said, “We wanted something unique and something which does not exist anywhere, and Raffles is the best brand. We had so many different, seven-star big brands who came to meet us, but the one who gave us the best vision, minimum guarantee, was this Group.”
Ashok Hinduja added that Old War Office is a 7-Star hotel and “I don’t think that anybody in India is a 7-Star.”
“And that gentry or the high class people, like Forbes people or the list of billionaires in the world, that comes under Raffles, can’t come with Taj or Oberoi, so we had to maintain that league.”
The hotel features 120 spacious guest rooms and suites, signature dining experiences by chef Mauro Colagreco, impressive entertainment spaces, including a grand ballroom and an extensive spa in partnership with Guerlain and Pillar. It features 85 residences.
The most historically significant areas of the building are the heritage suites, former offices of influential political and military leaders, including Winston Churchill, David Lloyd George and Sir Richard Haldane. A number of these will be available for exclusive reservations as ‘The Whitehall Wing’. This six-bedroom suite will occupy the west wing of the building and can accommodate up to twelve guests – one of the largest luxury hotel wings available in London.
(The writer was in London at the invitation of Hinduja Group)
