Covent Garden London
The heart of London's West End
St Martin's Lane Hotel - 1am licence 'not good enough'
A new hotel in St Martin's Lane has been given a late-night entertainment licence for its bar, restaurant and brasserie, despite massive opposition.
The St Martin's Lane Hotel is the first UK venture for Ian Schrager, the former US night-club operator (Studio 54), now the owner of a chain of luxury hotels. The ground floor of the former office block at 42-49 St Martin's Lane, previously home to 'Café Pelican' and other restaurants, will house the foyer for Schrager's new hotel, as well as large food & drink areas for hotel guests and the general public.
Schrager applied for a 3am Music & dancing licence for both the basement and the ground floor, but withdrew the basement area (the former Lumiere Cinema space) from the application in the face of more than 100 objections from neighbours and the CGCA. The CGCA can't remember the last time there were so many objections to any licence application for a licence.
The many residents living around the hotel site anticipated a 3am replica of the notorious Studio 54 on their doorstep. The area around St Martin's Lane and Bedfordbury is remarkably residential in nature, with three large purpose-built mansion blocks, flats above many of the shops and restaurants in New Row and St Martin's Lane and two large Peabody blocks, including 43 sheltered dwellings for warden-assisted residents, some of whom are over 90 years old.
After a very prolonged two day hearing, at which more than 10 resident representatives gave evidence, Westminster City Council's Licensing Sub-committee granted a 1am licence for the ground floor only, rather than the 3am applied for. Within days, Ian Schrager Hotels appealed to the Magistrates' Court against this decision.
An appeal hearing will now take place, with Westminster defending its decision to curtail the opening hours and residents and the CGCA to give evidence as witnesses.
Despite its lively, theatre-orientated image, the St Martin's Lane area is home to 100s of residents, all of whom need some hours of unbroken sleep to survive. The area can be busy and noisy during the evenings, but quietens down after midnight. The opening of a large (550 persons) capacity late-night entertainment venue operating until 1am, on top of the hotel operation itself (which is set to bring 24-hour activity to the area), is likely to have a serious adverse effect on the quality of life for local residents. Whilst some may argue that "If you can't stand the heat...", this is not a realistic option for most residents, as they have protected tenancies or live in social housing. In most cases, many of the residents have lived in their home for more than 20 years. It would be unreasonable for them to have to "get out" just because a US hotel owner has decided to open three large bars/restaurants and keep them open until the early hours of the morning. Where would one stop...?
The appeal hearing against Westminster's decision is likely to take place sometime in May, with the Hotel's opening scheduled for the summer.
'Ghastly' club gets go-ahead: link to article in the West End Extra by Martin Newman, (5th March 1999).
Link to article in Evening Standard
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