According to reports, Italian fashion house Armani is hoping to turn an iconic London landmark, the Admiralty Arch, into a luxury, £100 million hotel.
According to The Daily Mail, the ceremonial entrance from Trafalgar Square to the Mall that leads to Buckingham Palace will be transformed into a 100-room hotel designed floor to ceiling by Giorgio Armani himself if the deal goes through.
After opening properties in Dubai and Milan, Armani has long talked about opening a London outpost of Armani Hotels, toying briefly with the tony neighborhood of Knightsbridge, home to luxury properties like Bulgari, the Berkeley and Mandarin Oriental.
Early indications are that the hotel will be outfitted in sleek marble for the property’s 80 to 100 guestrooms, royal and presidential suites at an estimated renovation cost of £600,000 per room, reports “The Daily Mail.”
The hotel, which is reportedly to open in December, 2015, will house a restaurant and bar and, predictably, an Armani boutique.
Any development plans for a hotel in the century-old edifice, meanwhile, would need to pass security measures given that the arch overlooks Whitehall which is lined with British governmental offices.
Meanwhile, the story also notes that an Armani spokesperson has denied the rumors calling them ‘unfounded,’ while the London-based developers denied choosing an operator for the property.