An Eco-Hotel For London's New Left Bank
Watch out Paris! You may be all smug with your Left Bank but you have a pretender to your throne. London is about to get its own Left Bank.
Ok, so maybe the French shouldn’t be doing any boot-quivering yet. Because the London’s Left Bank is currently under construction, and is going to be tucked away in Battersea, in south-west London. And last time we were in Battersea, there wasn’t a whole lot going on. At all.
Still, the new Hotel Rafayel on the Left Bank is hoping to up the vibe, and it sounds pretty nice. Opening in December, it’s going to be a five star hotel complete with bakery, champagne bar and Thameside restaurant. So far, so yawn – except this is going to be an eco hotel with rain-water harvesting system, energy-efficient air con and low energy lighting. Which doesn’t sound that impressive, until they say that the carbon footprint of each hotel room will be a whopping 75% less than the London average.
Rooms look pretty foxy if these CGIs are anything to go by – and they’re calling them technologically “smart”, which is making the geek in us salivate. And of course, being out of the way but on the Thames will give the place some pretty impressive views down the Thames towards the Houses of Parliament.
So we’re looking forward to December! Although we’re not the biggest Battersea fans, it’s nice to see a hotel starting up somewhere not central, as the Bermondsey Square Hotel did. And although we’re not the biggest fans of how that one’s turned out, the regeneration project that it’s part of has definitely transformed a manky part of South London into a happening little square. If the Hotel Rafayel manages that, it’ll be good; if it adds funky rooms to the mix, we’ll definitely be fans.
Ps: Loving the Rafayel's blog already. Especially them cupcakes…
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