- 🏨 The hotel · London Bridge Hotel, Tapestry Collection by Hilton · 153 rooms, 8-18 London Bridge Street, in Southwark, next to London Bridge station.
- 📅 The timeline · Reopening under the new brand expected in early 2028, following a transformation of over £12 million (approximately €13.8 million).
- 🤝 The agreement · Franchise contract with Gama Holdings, owner of the hotel for over thirty years · Hilton does not operate the property, providing instead the brand and distribution.
- 🍽️ Dining · The ground floor is entirely redesigned to host several dining venues, operated by Individual Restaurants.
- 🇬🇧 The context · First Tapestry Collection in London and the ninth Hilton brand in the capital · the collection aims to reach six hotels in the UK and Ireland by 2028.
There are addresses one passes without noticing. The London Bridge Hotel is one of them: a brick and stone building positioned against London Bridge station, in Southwark, which generations of business travellers have used without ever speaking of it. Hilton has just announced its signing under the Tapestry Collection brand, with a reopening expected in early 2028 following over £12 million in renovations. This is the first address of this collection in London, and the ninth brand of the American group in the British capital.
What changes with the switch to Tapestry Collection
Tapestry Collection is what is known in the industry as a soft brand collection: independent hotels that retain their name, decor and personality, whilst borrowing Hilton’s distribution, Honors loyalty programme and service standards. The hotel remains the property of Gama Holdings, which has owned it for over thirty years, and the contract signed is a franchise: Hilton does not operate the establishment, it lends its brand. This model explains the rapid growth of these collections, both at Hilton and its competitors, without tying up capital.
“London and, more broadly, the UK and Ireland region continue to offer tremendous growth opportunities,” summarises Christian Charnaux, executive vice president and chief development officer at Hilton. On the owner’s side, Simon Elias, chairman of Gama Holdings, expresses his satisfaction at “seeing the property enter this new phase” after three decades of family ownership.
◆ London Bridge Hotel today
Twelve million pounds, 153 rooms and vaulted chambers
The renovation programme exceeds £12 million, or approximately €13.8 million, for a capacity that remains at 153 rooms. In other words, the funds are not being used to add keys but to reposition the existing asset: the establishment will notably introduce garden vault rooms, bedrooms fitted within the building’s historic vaults, opening onto a garden. These brick volumes, inherited from the area’s railway architecture, are precisely the kind of singularity sought after by independent hotel collections, and which a traditional chain hotel cannot manufacture.
The ground floor is the other major project. It is entirely redesigned to house several dining venues, entrusted to Individual Restaurants, a British group known for its brasserie and grill brands. This choice speaks volumes about the times: in an urban hotel, dining is no longer merely a service provided to guests, but a standalone business that must thrive on the local neighbourhood.
◆ Dining, meetings and wellness
Southwark, the Shard and Borough Market: location dictates price
The hotel is backed by London Bridge station, one of the busiest in the country, and positioned at the foot of the Shard. Less than a ten-minute walk away: Borough Market and its stalls, Tower Bridge, the south bank of the Thames and Shakespeare’s Globe. This is a prime location that the district simply did not possess twenty years ago, when Southwark remained a hinterland of warehouses. The regeneration of the area, accelerated by the construction of the Shard in 2012 and subsequently by the growth of the office market, has shifted the location into the category of sought-after addresses.
| Rooms | 153 |
| Investment | over £12M |
| Reopening | early 2028 |
| Owner | Gama Holdings, for over 30 years |
| Brand ranking in London | 9th Hilton brand |
| Tapestry in the UK and Ireland | 6 hotels targeted by 2028 |
Tapestry Collection accelerates in the UK
The collection already features, across the Channel, The Samuel Ryder Hotel in St Albans, Elmbank in York, The Marcus in Portrush, Northern Ireland, and the Dover Marina Hotel & Spa. Two recent signings, in Plymouth and Cork, are scheduled to open in 2027. With London, the brand targets six addresses across the UK and Ireland by 2028, a pace that reflects the appetite of independent owners for an insignia that delivers bookings without imposing rigid chain specifications. Discover UK hotel news on La Revue des Hôtels.
Our perspective
Twelve million pounds for 153 rooms equates to roughly £78,000 per key: this is the budget for a heavy renovation, not a luxury transformation. The stated ambition is therefore to elevate a respectable four-star hotel into the upper tier of London’s midscale segment, rather than turning it into a palace, which aligns perfectly with Tapestry Collection’s positioning. The real gamble takes place on the ground floor: if the dining curated by Individual Restaurants attracts locals and Shard employees alike, the hotel will secure a reason to exist beyond its bedrooms. This is what currently separates a transient address from a destination address. We will update this article once restaurant names and precise construction schedules are announced.
Practical information
- Address · London Bridge Hotel, 8-18 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9SG, United Kingdom
- Today · the hotel remains open under its current name until renovations begin
- Walking distance · London Bridge station (1 min), Borough Market (5 min), The Shard (3 min), Tower Bridge (10 min)
- Official website · londonbridgehotel.com
