Thistle, The Clermont and Amba play musical chairs with their London hotel brands
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GLH, the Singapore-based hotel group behind Guoman, Thisle, Amba and The Clermont, has almost finished its game of musical chairs with its London hotel brands.
The Amba Hotels name has been retired. Amba Marble Arch, reviewed here, has returned to the Thistle brand as Thistle Marble Arch. It is being described as the ‘flagship’ hotel for the brand. There are now eight Thistle hotels in Central London and the one at Heathrow.
The other Amba Hotel, Amba Charing Cross, has become the second hotel under The Clermont brand. It will be known as The Clermont Charing Cross, website here. This is the hotel on the Stand, above Charing Cross station. It was previously unbranded before becoming an Amba.
The other hotel under The Clermont brand is The Clermont Victoria, website here. This was previously Guoman The Grosvenor Hotel.
The same group also owns the Hard Rock Hotel London. This was previously Guoman The Cumberland before a substantial refurbishment. (EDIT: in 2023 it was rebranded as The Cumberland – website here.)
GLH, the company behind all of these brands, has just one problem child left – The Tower Hotel at St Katherine Docks. Originally a Thistle, this was moved to the ‘upscale’ Guoman brand. Guoman never took off and all of the hotels have now been rebranded, except for The Tower.
As the clear winner of any ‘ugliest hotel in London’ competition – with extra points due to its prominent riverside location next to The Tower of London – demolition would be, by far, the best solution here ….
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