Vauxhall residents slam millionaire's plan for 168-person late night bar in posh hotel next to homes

Residents of 9 Albert Embankment fear the proposed bar in the Hyatt Regency Albert Embankment hotel next door will disrupt the peacefulness of the area
-Credit: (Image: Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon)


Residents of riverside apartments in South London have slammed a millionaire's plan to open a late night bar in the boardroom of an upmarket hotel next door. Families in the block of flats in Vauxhall fear they will effectively be left living on top of a nightclub if Lambeth Council approves the 168-capacity venue in the Hyatt Regency London Albert Embankment which typically charges upwards of £250 a night for a room.

Cannon Corporate Limited, a firm controlled by ex-Iraqi politician Mudhar Ghassan Shawkat and which runs the 142-room hotel, wants to turn basement space in the 14 floor building into a bar opening until 4:30am on weekends. Dubbed a ‘digital art space’, the venue would feature artwork on mirrored surfaces with LED screens, as well as music and specialist cocktails, according to planning documents submitted to the council.

Tim Foster, 68, who has lived in his ‘peaceful’ riverside flat next to the hotel for 20 years, said he was worried the late night bar would alter the feel of the area. He said: “I don’t want to be sitting over the top of a nightclub.

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The apartments at 9 Albert Embankment (left) are directly next door to the Hyatt Regency London Albert Embankment (right)
The apartments at 9 Albert Embankment (left) are directly next door to the Hyatt Regency London Albert Embankment (right) -Credit:Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon

The amount of taxis that arrive 24/7 already for the two hotels is enough, having all those people shouting in the street. But to add insult to injury and put a nightclub underneath our apartments with an adjoining wall—that’s insulting our intelligence.”

Rajesh Kataria, 62, who like Mr Foster moved into the apartment complex soon after it was built around two decades ago, said the location was totally inappropriate for such a venue. He said: “It’s a residential area. It [the bar] will affect a lot of people’s sleeping patterns. There are a hundred other places where people can open their clubs.

“We can’t move our society to a nightlife society you have in the Middle East and places like that where things are open until five o’clock in the morning and other people’s social and daily life is not taken into account.”

Neil, a primary school teacher, who lives in one of around four dozen flats in the complex that were reserved for key workers when the block was finished in 2002, said a late night venue would be out of sync with the neighbourhood.

Residents want Lambeth Council to reject the hotel's application to open a bar in its basement
Residents want Lambeth Council to reject the hotel's application to open a bar in its basement -Credit:Facundo Arrizabalaga/MyLondon

The 47-year-old, who asked for his surname not to be published, said: "The nightclub is not going to benefit anybody except the owner of the nightclub. If we are inviting people who want to party, it's at odds with the residential area. We don't see why this needs to be on our doorstep.

"There are empty arches further down Albert Embankment where there are nightclubs because that has not got any direct residential areas. That would strike me as a sensible location."

Another resident called Andrea said: "We have nothing against the party people but the council has to create hubs for it and not spread it inside residential blocks."

Residents also said they were worried that potential extra footfall and traffic in neighbouring streets as a result of the bar could pose an obstacle to fire engines and ambulances, in the event of an emergency nearby.

The bar will be 'open to hotel guests, [a] select guest list and pre-booked visitors', according to documents submitted to the council. Proposed conditions of operation outlined in a separate licensing application indicate the venue will almost exclusively cater for pre-booked reservations, except for up to 10 on-the-door spaces available at management discretion.

Lambeth Council will make a decision on the planning and licensed premises application for the basement bar in the coming months. Hyatt Regency London Albert Embankment declined to comment.

Got a story? Email robert.firth@reachplc.com.

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