






Iconic Central London hotel receives exterior makeover
Kensington and Chelsea, London SW7
Hotel exterior painting London
Man Hours
168
Days
7
Litres of Paint
72
Metres
37
Exterior Painters
3
For free quote call 0203 930 0645 (24-hours)
The brief.
As experts in exterior painting London hotel we were contracted to carry out another exterior painting to this iconic 163-bedroom four-star luxury hotel in Kensington and Chelsea which was built in the early 19th Century. This Hilton hotel employ a team of maintenance engineers, including a house painter to keep the hotel functional and looking great for guests and visitors alike.
But undertaking an exterior painting of this magnitude is a challenge too much for the in-house hotel exterior painters, so it was necessary to call in the more resourceful decorating contractors, Phantom Painters and Decorators – specialist London hotel decorators.
Scope of work.
Being hotel decorators we were contracted to apply masonry paint to 37-metres of both rough Victorian brickwork and smooth Edwardian stucco render and 20 stucco columns using Dulux Trade Weathershield Masonry Paint, as well as seven entrance porches. The Victorian brickwork was labour-intensive because it was more intricate, as can be seen from the photos, that required more brushwork compared with the smooth stucco render that can be flat rolled more quickly.
Fortunately, this Central London hotel exterior painting had been very well maintained over the years. Unlike many period buildings with painted stucco render, exposed to the elements and high traffic, there were no signs of masonry corrosion therefore no stonework treatment was required prior to painting, just the removal of traffic and pollution dust.
The challenges.
As with all hotel exterior painting work, our hotel painters have to contend with the unpredictable winter weather. But, our Project Manager being a qualified skipper so knows all about meteorology and weather forecasting and we had favourable weather throughout the seven days. On top of the weather forecast, we had additional but insurmountable challenges, including:
- Having just three days (including the weekend) to co-ordinate resources for Monday start.
- Completing the exterior hotel painting project in time for the imminent arrival of a VIP.
- Assigning enough exterior painters and decorators to complete the job in time.
- Securing enough masonry paint during a national supply shortage.
- Accessing more intricate parts of the building by ladder.
- Ensuring no disruption to hotel business or inconvenience to staff during painting.
- Carrying out exterior hotel painting work sensitively with consideration for hotel brand perception and its guests and visitors.
- Maintaining safe and healthy work areas at all times with passing pedestrians in mind.
Being the only exterior hotel painting contractors to not own a van, parking in a Central London location and passing traffic enforcement officers was the very least of our worries!
Project Timeline.
This project timeline shows the little time our London exterior painters had to deliver the brief successfully, and on time without compromising our high professional painting and decorating standards.
- Tuesday 1 February, we submitted our quotation.
- Thursday 3 February PM, we get the go-ahead to carry out exterior masonry painting to ground and lower-ground levels
- Friday 4 February AM, we order first batch of masonry paint and ladders, for delivery to site.
- Saturday 5 February AM, first batch paint order of masonry paint arrives at hotel.
- Monday 7 February AM, three of our London exterior painters commence dusting down and paint of masonry.
- Monday 14 February, all hotel masonry painting complete, cleaning and quality control checks commence.
As this project timeline shows, utilising the Project Manager’s 30-years experience in delivering exterior hotel painting and decorating projects, we fulfilled the brief in spite of the challenges.
The result.
With meticulous planning and project management experience we successfully gave this lovely hotel exterior a makeover in just seven days, with ample time before the VIP arrives.
- The Double Tree by Hilton brand is preserved by professional maintenance of this iconic Central London period building.
- The hotel exterior masonry remains protected from inclement weather that can irreversibly corrode stonework if left untreated.
- Visitors and pedestrians are drawn into the architecture of this early 19th Century building to take photos and share on social media.
- And important of all, a happy General Manager, with inspired staff proud of their brilliant white workplace.
For free quote call 0203 930 0645 (24-hours)
