The deal–one of the largest acquisitions in the area in years–has been signed in less than 72 hours.
Copyright Charlie Dailey 2014
An unnamed Hong Kong multi-millionaire has bought a penthouse at the lavish 5-star Corinthia Hotel in London for £10.7 million ($13.3 million).
The deal for the four-bedroom top floor flat within the ultra-luxury hotel next to Downing Street–one of the largest acquisitions in the area in years–has been signed in less than 72 hours.
The 3,703 sq ft penthouse comes with 24/7 room service and direct internal access to the hotel’s spa, restaurants, cocktail bars and lounges.
It has a private lift lobby, a dedicated service entrance and service lift from the hotel, which allows staff to deliver room service orders or to collect and deliver laundry.
Copyright Charlie Dailey 2014
Other features include Italian marble walls and floors, a stone fireplace and ebony veneer wall paneling.
Aston Chase, the agent that co-brokered the deal with Knight Frank, refused to disclose the buyer’s identity but said that the foreign businessman and his wife are regular London visitors to London and that the Corinthia is their favorite hotel in the British capital.
“The couple had initially looked with Aston Chase at other ultra-prime residences in Mayfair, Chelsea, St John’s Wood and Regent’s Park but when they learnt that the top floor home at the Corinthia’s private residences was for sale a deal was swiftly agreed, within under 72 hours,” an Aston Chase spokersperson said.
Copyright Charlie Dailey 2014
The millionaire asked for the bedrooms in the residence to be fitted with the hotel’s mattresses, bed linen and throws.
“The Corinthia Hotel Private Residences purchase is the biggest deal in Whitehall in the last five years,” said Aston Chase’s director and partner, Simon Deen.
“Despite its prime location in the heart of London’s government district, by No.10 Downing Street, residential properties in Whitehall are more price competitive than neighboring Mayfair, St James’s and Belgravia. The deal equates to a price of just under £3,000 per sq ft, compared to other high-end developments in Mayfair the couple looked at which were priced at around £7,000 per sq ft.”
Copyright Charlie Dailey 2014
Deen added that Hong Kong buyers want “homes with pristine, brand new interiors” but that they also “love British history.”
The Corinthia Hotel, which last year hosted Donald Trump and his family for the US President’s first official visit to the UK, was originally built as a hotel in 1885 and was favored by King Edward VII.
The Corinthia Hotel
Barbara Kraft
It served as the UK’s Air Ministry and Ministry of Defence between 1936 and 2007 and was fully refurbished and re-converted into a hotel in 2011.
The hotel has now British and Italian restaurants with Michelin-starred chefs, multiple cocktail bars, a terraced lounge, hair and beauty salon and a spa and wellness center.
The adjoining Corinthia Hotel London: Private Residences, also a former government building, was converted into an aparthotel in 2011.