London’s Metropole Buildings, the Government offices on Whitehall that have stood vacant since 2004, are to be transformed into a hotel.

Property agent CBRE Hotels is handling the sale of the offices, expected to raise in the region of £100m, on behalf of owner the Crown Estate.

A spokesman for CBRE said: “We are expecting major interest from international hotel developers and operators, in anticipation of the rapid market expansion associated with the forthcoming London 2012 Olympic Games.”

The Metropole was built as a hotel in 1883 but was requisitioned to provide accommodation for government staff during World War One.

Despite returning to hotel status in the inter-war years it has been held in government hands since the Second World War.

• The 55-bedroom Balmer Lawn hotel in Hampshire is for sale through property agents Christie & Co. The 19th century property, which is set on 2.61 acres of landscaped grounds in the New Forest has traded as a Hilton for the past 20 years.

Crown Estate website >>

Rocco Forte's St David's hotel sold for £32.5m >>

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By Christopher Walton

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