Robert De Niro gets green light for London boutique hotel

LONDON (AP) - Robert De Niro has won planning permission for a luxury hotel in London's Covent Garden area.

Westminster Council approved plans Tuesday for the 83-room Wellington Hotel, backed by the actor and BD Hotels. The team already owns Manhattan's Greenwich Hotel.

The plans include a spa, restaurant, private members' club and retail space. It will occupy six adjacent historic buildings and will open in 2019.

"Mean Streets" and "Taxi Driver" star De Niro told The Caterer in May that the hotel would "honor the heritage of the area, while bringing the best of what we've done in New York to London."

Westminster Council planning chairman Robert Davis couldn't resist name-checking De Niro's films, saying Thursday that the hotel would be "a brand new destination on the 'mean streets'" of Covent Garden.