Cllr Aziz Toki: ‘We would encourage the applicant to provide clearer plans which comply with the licensing act’

A £1,000-a-night hotel, set to open in Whitehall’s Old War Office, has had a major setback just two weeks before its due opening.

Nearly 700 guests will have to put their plans on hold after licensing chiefs told the hotel’s lawyers to come back with a clearer plan about serving alcohol and hosting live music.

The Raffles Hotel has moved into the Old War Office, OWO, following a £1billion regeneration.

But its grand opening has been delayed after Westminster City Council shot down seven licensing applications which it needs in order to open.

At a licensing committee meeting, a Raffles representative said: “Nearly 700 people were meant to be going into this building.

“We are going to have to put all these plans on hold until we sort this out. This is a real big concern, a serious concern.”

The hotel’s team has now called on the city council to set up a special meeting in the coming days to try to allow the hotel to open its doors as planned.

The building has been transformed into a five-star spot with five restaurants, including one on the roof complete with spectacular views across London, but it cannot open without a licence from the council.

Hotel guests will enter from Whitehall before stepping into the grand hall and up a marble staircase before heading to one of its 120 bedrooms, or its spa, or one of its many bars or restaurants.

The OWO was used as Winston Churchill’s HQ during World War II.

At that time there were 1,000 rooms in the building and around two-and-a-half miles of corridors.

Councillors started the two-hour licensing hearing last Thursday by saying they had a number of issues with the application.

The plans presented by the hotel did not show where drinks would be sold and plans did not show toilet or fire exit locations.

Members were also confused about how each of its restaurants would operate.

Details such as whether there would be mini-bars, or whether guests would be able to take drinks to their rooms, or whether they would just drink at bars, were not clear.

Committee chair Cllr Aziz Toki said: “We would encourage the applicant to provide clearer plans which comply with the licensing act. We want this development to succeed but our duty is to ensure that these seven licences promote the licensing objectives.”

Cllr Maggie Carman said: “This just isn’t ready.

“It’s not acceptable to take this in front of the committee. We need each application to be considered separately and how it is going to fit into the whole.

“We need to understand the operation of the seven different premises.”