A $400 million luxury hotel on top of a secret tunnel to iconic London department store Harrods was just approved — here’s what we know

• A $400 million hotel has been approved for development within walking distance of iconic London department store Harrods.
• The hotel is so close to Harrods that it is connected by an underground tunnel.
• The eight-story hotel will have 120 rooms, 23,000 square feet of spa and retail space, and a bar on the top floor.
• The hotel will replace a multi-story car park and take an estimated 30 months to build.
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Dating back to 1849, Harrods department store is an iconic fixture of London’s landscape.

Spanning seven floors, the luxury goods retailer draws visitors and locals to the upscale, tree-lined neighborhood of Knightsbridge in central London, which is known for its high-end restaurants and picturesque Victorian houses.

Now, a $400 million (£300 million) luxury boutique hotel is set to join the Knightsbridge scene. Replacing a multi-story car park, the hotel will have eight stories – three below ground and five above – 120 rooms, 23,000 square feet of spa and retail space, and a bar on the top floor, Zoe Monk reported for Boutique Hotelier.

The site of the proposed hotel is so close to Harrods that it’s connected by an underground tunnel. That tunnel will not connect the department store and hotel, however. “There is a historic tunnel on this site, however it has been blocked up for 20 years – it will remain blocked up and will offer no access to Harrods,” a spokesperson for Harrods told Monk.

The boutique hotel will take an estimated 30 months to build, Monk reported

While industry experts don't quite agree on what exactly defines a boutique hotel, the consensus is that they promise a certain je ne sais quois, or in the words of Ian Schrager, the legendary hotelier behind EDITION and PUBLIC, "an elevated experience."

Writing for The Times, Dominic Walsh pointed to the possibility that Harrods could use this new development as an opportunity to move into the hotel space. It certainly wouldn't be the first luxury brand to tap into the luxury travel market, which is expected to reach $1.6 trillion by 2026 according to a report released by Allied Market Research released in September. LVMH, the luxury giant that owns brands including Louis Vuitton, agreed to buy Belmond Hotels in 2018; wellness giant Equinox got into the hospitality game last year with the opening of its first hotel in the New York City neighborhood Hudson Yards.

David Ashcroft, chief executive at UK real estate development firm Dartmouth Capital Advisors, declined to comment to The Times about who exactly would be occupying the space. "I think you can be assured that a world class brand will be occupying it," he told Walsh.