Park Plaza Waterloo

We watched with horror as the building went up. There was not an aspect upon which ones eyes could rest with pleasure. We think that it really deserved the prize. The only consolation was that, as local residents, we could not quite see it from our windows.

I'm assuming that you mean the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, which is the one on the island that the traffic goes around when it comes off Westminster Bridge, the other one opposite is the Park Plaza County Hall.
The Westminster Bridge one was voted the second most "bent" hotel in London, by black cab drivers.
A "bent" hotel is one where the concierge and/or doormen 'sell' the clients asking for a taxi to the airport, to the highest bidder.
The guest tells the concierge that he needs a taxi at X time tomorrow to Heathrow, the concierge says "Leave it with me."
He then calls a few guys, black cab or minicab, and whoever offers the most gets the job.
The dodgy driver turns up, hands the concierge/doorman £10 or £15, and takes the guest, adding the "fee' to the fare, guest is just glad to be at the airport and just pays what he's been asked for.
And the world goes round and around.
Oh, and the most "bent" hotel was a tie between the Corinthia Hotel, Whitehall Place SW1, and the Lancaster, Lancaster Gate W2, once the Royal Lancaster.

Tom Pepper wrote:

I'm assuming that you mean the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, which is the one on the island that the traffic goes around when it comes off Westminster Bridge, the other one opposite is the Park Plaza County Hall.
The Westminster Bridge one was voted the second most "bent" hotel in London, by black cab drivers.
A "bent" hotel is one where the concierge and/or doormen 'sell' the clients asking for a taxi to the airport, to the highest bidder.
The guest tells the concierge that he needs a taxi at X time tomorrow to Heathrow, the concierge says "Leave it with me."
He then calls a few guys, black cab or minicab, and whoever offers the most gets the job.
The dodgy driver turns up, hands the concierge/doorman £10 or £15, and takes the guest, adding the "fee' to the fare, guest is just glad to be at the airport and just pays what he's been asked for.
And the world goes round and around.
Oh, and the most "bent" hotel was a tie between the Corinthia Hotel, Whitehall Place SW1, and the Lancaster, Lancaster Gate W2, once the Royal Lancaster.

Great story Tom!

I always suspected such things went on at the big hotels.

But this particular hotel isn't the one opposite County Hall: it is located in Hercules Road, on the site previously occupied by the Central Office of Information (I used to go there often to research archive footage for use in documentaries).

Park Plaza Waterloo wuz robbed! That winning carbunkle in Victoria has nothing on our local carbunkle.

The only consolation here is that it replaced another horrible building (the COI).