One of southeast London’s best-known hotels could close after welcoming visitors from around the world for more than five decades.
Elysian Residences hopes to turn The Clarendon Hotel in Blackheath into retirement accommodation if Lewisham Council approves plans that will be submitted in the coming weeks.
Until a decision is made, it remains business as usual for the 175-room hotel, which boasts views across the heath and has long been a key part of Greenwich’s tourist trade, with a bar and restaurant that is popular with local residents.
Elysian hopes to restore the Grade II-listed Georgian terraces at the front of the hotel and construct a new building at the back to replace the Clarendon’s rear extension. In total, there could be 80 one and two-bedroom flats.
There would be new public space at the rear of the site, on Paragon Place, landscaped gardens, a gym for residents and a restaurant open to the public.
Elysian already operates eight retirement complexes across southeast England, including in Kew, Hampstead, Henley-on-Thames and Tunbridge Wells.
A spokesperson told The Greenwich Wire that the company had been “selected by the owners of the historic Clarendon Hotel in Blackheath to refurbish and redevelop the site. Following extensive public consultation, including two lots of two-day consultation events in November 2024 and again in July 2025, it is expected that planning will be submitted in the next two to three weeks.
“Elysian are delighted to say that, if successful, they will become the new owners of the site.”
The Clarendon, which is just over the Greenwich-Lewisham boundary, was once three separate hotels. The Regency and Heathview traded on either side of the original Clarendon before they combined into the current business in the late 1970s.
A spokesperson for Visit Greenwich, the borough’s tourism agency, said the hotel would be “greatly missed” if the plans went ahead.
“The Clarendon is an iconic landmark and an important hotel for visitors to the area, being located so close to the Maritime Greenwich world heritage site, the O2 and Woolwich,” she said.
“The hotel plays an important role in growing the local visitor economy, providing a quality visitor experience, creating employment, and is especially good at hosting group bookings as well as supporting local initiatives and events.”
📩 Follow The Greenwich Wire on Bluesky, Facebook, LinkedIn or Threads. You can also sign up for WhatsApp alerts – or subscribe to our emails through the blue box above.