Actor Robert De Niro and BD Hotels have won planning permission for a luxury hotel in central London's Covent Garden area. File photo: AP Photo

Robert De Niro's waiting ... to open another luxury hotel

AAP|Apr 16, 2019

Robert De Niro has won planning permission to build a luxury hotel in London’s Covent Garden area.

Westminster Council has approved plans for the 83-room Wellington Hotel, backed by the actor and BD Hotels.

The team already owns Manhattan’s boutique Greenwich Hotel.

Greenwich Hotel in Manhattan owned by actor Robert De Niro. File photo: Nikolas Koenig

The Covent Garden plans include a spa, restaurant, private members’ club and retail space.

The complex will occupy six adjacent historical buildings between Wellington, Tavistock, Burleigh and Exeter streets and is expected to open in 2019.

Mean Streets and Taxi Driver star De Niro told journalists in May that the hotel would “honour the heritage of the area, while bringing the best of what we’ve done in New York to London”.

Nobu Hotel Manila opening: Robert De Niro, second from right, with Hollywood producer Meir Teper, left, Crown Resorts executive chairman James Packer, chef Nobu Matsuhisa and Nobu Hospitality chief Trevor Horwell. Photo: AP Photo, Bullit Marquez

He also co-owns the Nobu Hotel Manila hotel in the Philippines with chef Nobu Matshuhisa and film producer Meir Teper.

Landmarks in the vicinity of the Covent Garden project include the Lyceum and Duchess theatres and the Strand Palace Hotel.

A diagram showing the location of Robert De Niro’s planned Wellington Hotel. Image: City of Westminster

Westminster Council planning chairman Robert Davis couldn’t resist name-checking De Niro’s films, saying the hotel would be a brand-new destination on the “mean streets” of Covent Garden.