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TWA Hotel owner plans to turn London’s BT Tower into a hotel

Cameron Sperance
Cameron Sperance
Former senior hotels reporter
Cameron Sperance is the former senior hotels reporter at TPG. His expertise includes branding, travel data, destinations and loyalty programs.
Feb. 22, 2024
•
3 min read
BT-Tower-Landscape
TWA Hotel owner plans to turn London’s BT Tower into a hotel
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A hotel is coming to London's famed BT Tower, but you'll need to wait a few years to check in.

MCR, a U.S.-based hotel ownership group that owns the TWA Hotel at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), has a purchase agreement for the 620-foot BT Tower in London's Fitzrovia neighborhood. BT Group, the building's seller, announced the deal was worth 275 million British pounds (or about $348 million).

MCR plans to spend several years refurbishing the tower into a hotel and public space.

"We are proud to become owners and custodians of the iconic BT Tower," MCR CEO Tyler Morse said in a statement. "We will take our time to carefully develop proposals that respect the London landmark's rich history and open the building for everyone to enjoy."

Details of how many rooms will be at the hotel, or if the tower's now-closed rotating top-floor restaurant might revive amid the renovation, weren't specified in the company announcement.

Telecommunications BT Group, the tower's namesake, will take several years to vacate the building amid moving its technical equipment elsewhere. From there, MCR plans on a design development and community engagement process before getting underway with the hotel work.

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The company is known for its painstaking process of refurbishing historic buildings and transforming them into modern, high-end hotels. The TWA Flight Center, the defunct airline's architecturally acclaimed Eero Sarinen-designed terminal, transformed into the TWA Hotel under MCR's purview. The company also owns the High Line Hotel in New York City and is currently underway with a redevelopment of the Gramercy Park Hotel.

"We see many parallels between the TWA Hotel and the BT Tower," Morse said. "Both are world-renowned, groundbreaking pieces of architecture. It's been a privilege to adapt the TWA Flight Center into new use for future generations, as it will be the BT Tower."

MCR also gets its fair share of traveler critique (this reporter included) for its nickel-and-diming of certain hotel amenities, like charging a fee to access the TWA Hotel's rooftop pool. It is unclear if those pricing parallels will extend to whatever becomes of the BT Tower.

Unlike the TWA Hotel, the BT Tower hasn't always been a hit with architecture buffs: The New York Times labeled it as one of "the World's Most Hated Buildings" in a 2015 article.

That just means there's all the more reason for MCR to glam it up in the hotel renovation.

Related reading:

Featured image by MCR/BT GROUP
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

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  • Some may have trouble using Uber and other dining credits
  • You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $6,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Apply to know if you’re approved and find out your exact welcome offer amount – all with no credit score impact. If you’re approved and choose to accept the Card, your score may be impacted.
  • Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
  • Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
  • Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or on AmexTravel.com.
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  • $100 Resy Credit: Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year after you pay with the American Express® Gold Card to dine at U.S. Resy restaurants or make other eligible Resy purchases. That's up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
  • $120 Dining Credit: Satisfy your cravings, sweet or savory, with the $120 Dining Credit. Earn up to $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys. Enrollment required.
  • Explore over 1,000 upscale hotels worldwide with The Hotel Collection and receive a $100 credit towards eligible charges* with every booking of two nights or more through AmexTravel.com. *Eligible charges vary by property.
  • No Foreign Transaction Fees.
  • Annual Fee is $325.
  • Terms Apply.