London debut for Lalit

The former St Olave’s Grammar School in Tooley Street, housed in a 180-year-old Grade II listed neo-baroque building, is reopening soon as a luxury 5-star boutique hotel and the first overseas property for the Lalit Suri Group.

The Lalit London, a stone’s throw from Tower Bridge and close to the capital’s major business centres, will have 70 rooms, each ornamented with bespoke art which the owners say will combine “Indian culture with British charm”.  

It marks a major departure for the hotel group, which has 11 luxury properties in India on its books

Managing director Dr Jyotsna Suri, widow of the anglophile founder of the company, Lalit Suri, said: “There has never before been an Indian brand that has come to Britain and flown its own flag under its own brand.”

She said the experience at the London hotel would be as authentic as possible without being too “jarring”. “We will not be offering anglicised Indian food. It will be genuine Indian food,” she added.

The Lalit family bought the site for £15m in 2012 and have spent more than £30m million on restoration and conversion. The former Governors’ Room is being turned into a cocktail bar and the headmaster’s study into a suite.

www.thelalit.com

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