London: Bulgari prepares to check into Knightsbridge | timesonline.co.uk
For more than a century it has been regarded as the quintessence of Italian chic, creating jewellery at once admired by the rich and famous and shamelessly imitated by lesser fashion houses. Now, four years after the opening of its flagship store on New Bond Street, Bulgari, the luxury goods group, is close to securing a site in Knightsbridge for its first London hotel. The Times has learnt that the company, which is listed on the Milan stock exchange, is preparing to sign a deal with a firm of developers to create a 78-room hotel with five apartments on the site of the former Normandie Hotel, overlooking Knightsbridge Green.
