3 hotels planned for Waterloo Road

There are three, 2 star hotels planned for Waterloo Road in the next couple of years. Planning applications are being submitted soon via Lambeth for the two of them. The site in question is across from the ambulance station just down the road from the Old Vic. The current building will be demolished and two much taller (13 storey) buildings are planned. If you want to comment on the height, lack of landscaping, design, traffic/pedestrian impacts keep an eye out for their application on the lambeth planning site.
http://planning.lambeth.gov.uk/publicaccess/propdb/property/property_searchform.aspx

Presumably this is something to do with the Church Mission Society's planned sale of 157 Waterloo Road and their move to Oxford.

I get the impression that this has left some of their fellow Anglican organisations that currently rent space homeless???

The 1960s building is certainly a more distinguished bit of architecture than the ambulance service HQ opposite. (1964 by Ansell & Bailey according to my Pevsner) Did the chapel with stained glass survive the late 1980s refit to accommodate the USPG moving in to share the building?

It seems that Waterloo Road - south of the Old Vic - is being lined up for at least 3 new hotels.
Firstly, at 284-302 Waterloo Road, planning permission is pending for hotel use (rather than flats and commercial as previously) on the recently demolished site at the far southern end (near St Georges Circus).
Then a conversion to a hotel is also planned for ST GEORGE'S HOUSE, 195-203 Waterloo Road.
And lastly, further north at No. 157 (opposite the ambulance centre) in Lambeth Council's area, there are plans to demolish the existing building and build a 500 room hotel.

This should do wonders for the local restaurant trade etc, although perhaps some of the local shops will eventually morph into souvenir shops.

I found this particularly surprising as Eurostar will soon depart Waterloo, but hey, Waterloo Road is far mor convenient than some of the new hotels they have built toward Vauxhall.

The St George's House application comes to planning committee next Tuesday:

http://www.southwark.gov.uk/uploads/file_30043.pdf
(the planning report includes a few images)

that must be one of the least inspiring model pictures that's ever featured in a planning report. elevation equally terminal. lots of typos in the report. and did southwark's 'design panel' really do their job here? if this report demonstrates the typical standard of critique of proposals for our built environment, then i fear for our emerging townscape...

there are so many good designers out there - why can't we use them? i notice that the architect's name doesn't appear in the report - not surprising.

Inspiring it ain't.

St George's House is now confirmed as a 260-room Travelodge.

And the site nearest St George's Circus will be a hotel run by the Spanish group H10 Hotels.

So many hotels yet none could be tempted a little further out to E&C to the Oakmayne scheme.......

Someone suggested to me that one reason developers are keen to build hotels is that if they build housing they're obliged to build (or pay for) low cost housing, and this doesn't apply to building hotels. Don't know if it's true.

As Argent said, it seems a bit of an odd move commercially to help build what may be a glut of two-star hotels just after the Eurostar moves away. But then maybe we're underestimating the appeal of our neighbourhood! The hotels will certainly be central, and very convenient to numerous tourist attractions, businesses, the City, etc.

Personally I'm a bit disappointed that building opposite the ambulance station is going. I find it really appealing somehow, with the black bricks and white detailing, and the way its curved front sweeps around behind the square entrance.

Some nice and reasonably priced hotels in the area could be quite good, I've only stayed in one H10 (Barcelona) but it was very good value for money, clean, smart and modern and as I can only afford to live in a little flat it would make it easier when we have visitors - that said, using the sight for more affordable housing might help too, but not enough sadly!

I just wonder tho - moving 3 hotels in at once seems a bit odd.