Yet another hotel...

A browse of Greenwich Council's planning pages (to see what might be happening on Creek Road) brought up this application from Telford Homes, who are applying for a change of use from B1 Office to C1 Hotel.

Their proposal is for a capsule hotel of 109 rooms over three floors of Block B in the new Creekside Village.

The blurb goes, "The main element comprises pre-constructed hotel rooms which can be delivered to site in flat pack form and assembled quickly and easily within an existing building. The rooms require no external light source and can be formed in rows with connecting corridors and service runs being the only other significant element of site work."

Most of the rooms will provide accommodation for up to two people with a proportion of the rooms being designed to mobility standards. Unlike conventional hotels, this proposal will involve no ancillary uses – no restaurant or bar areas, lounge or conferencing facilities. There will be a small reception facility and a cafe serving continental breakfasts, coffee and pre-packed snacks – so there will be no need for a catering kitchen (or extraction systems, or...er...jobs for local people).

This is a "stylish Micro Boutique room which will deliver the ultimate sleeping and in-room entertainment experience. The room ambience should be white/minimal/modern with a high level of comfort, mood lighting, climate control and the seamless integration of communications and entertainment media."

There are no proposed alterations to the glazed facade of the Creekside Village building, and where rooms butt up against windows, the internal face will have opaque window film.

The application promises that a private company will deal with waste which is expected to be recyclable plastics, cardboard, newspapers, tins and food tubs. However, each of the 109 rooms will have ensuite bathrooms and there are no documents supplied that refer to water supply and sewage displosal!

It all reminds us of the latest episode of Charlie Brooker's three-part series of satirical dramas, Black Mirror, ("15 Million Merits", screened on Channel 4 last Sunday) – a dystopian vision of a future powered by people on exercise bikes, where homes are simply small rooms made up of walls of screens and the only chance to escape is by going on a reality TV show. People have become TV-addled drones living their lives vicariously through a videogame avatar. Welcome to Greenwich!