EXCLUSIVE: I get a hard hat tour of Park Hyatt London River Thames

As part of my day with Arnaud de Saint-Exupéry, the Area Vice President for Hyatt in the UK and Ireland, I joined him on a hard hat tour of Park Hyatt London River Thames.

Part 1 of this article, looking at the rest of my day with Arnaud, is here. This part looks specifically at Park Hyatt London River Thames.

I need to say upfront that I was not allowed to take any photographs inside the hotel. It is keen to keep its secrets under wraps until the grand opening later this year. There were also certain features I was asked not to mention.

Park Hyatt London River Thames is in Nine Elms. It is at the far end of a surprisingly long swathe of new buildings, including the American Embassy, that has sprung up on the South Bank of the River Thames. The run of buildings starts just beyond the MI6 building, which some rooms at Park Hyatt overlook, and carries on via a green grassy ribbon towards the reborn Battersea Power Station.

Let’s discuss the elephant in the room first. Nine Elms is not known for its upscale hotels, and especially not a high-end luxury brand such as Park Hyatt. Even accounting for the huge number of new luxury residential blocks nearby (you may have seen photos of the two apartment blocks which are joined by a glass bottomed swimming pool), there seems little local demand.

Part of the appeal of the project is the residential element. The hotel tower is the smaller of the two twin towers in the photos here. Over 50% of the tower will be apartments with astonishing views. The hotel itself only occupies the lower 18 floors.

The other part of the appeal is the concept of an urban resort. The leisure side of the hotel is close to completion so I got a good feel for the finished product. The hotel swimming pool is very large and is not in the basement – it is above ground with lots of light. The spa and gym look amazing. The hotel rooms are a good size for Central London and mainly have good views and lots of light. The hope is that guests will be happy to base themselves here and spend time relaxing in the hotel.

We entered the site via a neighbouring residential building. This was, frankly, astonishing and I’ve been in most high-end London apartment complexes at one time or another. The swimming pool for residents was bigger than any city hotel pool you have ever seen (and was empty) and opposite was a residents kids play centre. The apartments being built in this part of London are on a different scale to the rest of the city, yet alone the rest of the country.

The pre-opening General Manager of Park Hyatt London River Thames is Rike Erdbrink. Rike has had an amazing career with Hyatt, starting out as an apprentice at Park Hyatt Hamburg over 20 years ago. Jump forward a decade and she had her first Pre-Opening role as Front Desk Manager at Hyatt Capital Gate Abu Dhabi. Jump forward another seven years and she was the Pre-Opening Hotel Manager at Hyatt Regency Beijing Wangjing. After a stint as General Manager at the (for once, already open) Park Hyatt Chicago she joined Park Hyatt London River Thames last October.

If I thought managing an established hotel was difficult, being the Pre-Opening General Manager is on a totally different scale. The hotel only has a handful of operating staff – the Executive Chef was just due to start, the Front Office and Sales Manager were in place – and all were based in a basement room in the tower.

The scope of the role, as you can imagine, is immense. On one table were samples of welcome cards (left in the rooms of arriving guests) from other Park Hyatt hotels so the team could decide on its own look. A few minutes later you’re dealing with a technician from the lift manufacturer who you need to sign off on the internal hotel lifts.

On the higher floors – because they are easily accessible from the residential lift which was fully functional – a number of suites and rooms have been decorated. Rike walked us around, highlighting items she loved and issues which still concerned her. Wherever we went, the views from the rooms dominated.

Once the room design is fully signed off, all of the loose items for each room will arrive in a box. Everything required (hangers, coffee machine, cups, make up mirrors etc) is collected off-site and individual containers made up for each room. The team can then unpack an entire room in one go.

The image above is a Hyatt PR image of the all day dining restaurant.

As well as this, on the ground floor, what looks like it will be a beautiful Chinese restaurant is coming together. The hotel has a Chinese owner, and their representatives were also onsite when we were there. Part of Rike’s job is balancing their requirements – it is their money, at the end of the day – with those of Hyatt and with her own career-long experience of what she knows will work.

When will Park Hyatt London River Thames open?

There is no published opening date for the hotel. ‘Late 2024’ says the Hyatt website, and nothing I heard during my tour contradicted that. That said, you can go from looking at a 95% finished bedroom and then turn around to find yourself in a totally unfinished part of the property.

There is certainly no shortage of money being spent on this project, and it was very clear that Rike is committed to delivering an outstanding property.

I can’t wait to see the finished product, and to see the team without their hard hats. Will the wealthy be willing to head out to Nine Elms? This is the key question, and the one which won’t be answered until the doors are open.

Thanks to Rike, Arnaud and Hannah at FTI for being so generous with their time, for letting me sit in on their private meetings and for putting up with my stupid questions.

The Park Hyatt London River Thames website is here.

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