The Dorchester Collection to reopen Playboy Club

The Dorchester Collection is to reopen the Playboy Club in London’s Park Lane as a hotel, 20 years after it closed.

Westminster Council has granted planning permission to redevelop the London outpost of Hugh Hefner's Playboy empire, which operated as a club and casino between 1966 and 1982, The Evening Standard reported.

The building is to be transformed into a yet-to-be-named 48-room hotel, and its concrete-clad exterior will be revamped and the interiors given an art deco theme.

Chief executive of The Dorchester Collection, Christopher Cowdray, said: "All our hotels have their own style of individuality and this will be no exception. We have ambitious plans for growth and are targeting 15 hotels in the next five to 10 years."

Robert Davis, Westminster Council's cabinet member for planning, said: "This new design should restore elegance to the site and will be in keeping with the other architecturally stunning buildings in the vicinity."

Work is due to start early next year at an undisclosed cost after the decision last week.

The Playboy Club was a favourite of celebrities and high rollers and became one of the landmarks of 1960s London.

The club was closed after a police raid investigating allegations of suspected gambling irregularities, which were never proven.

The Dorchester Collection owns and manages The Dorchester in London, The Beverly Hills Hotel in California, Le Meurice and Hotel Plaza Athénée in Paris, and the Hotel Principe di Savoia in Milan.

Plans to launch a Playboy private members club in former Ministry of Defence building Northumberland House with chef Stephen Saunders were axed in 2006.

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By Gemma Sharkey

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