Basically they have an important or regular guest who wants and probably happy to pay more for the presidential suite, so the “ under construction “ gag is used to get more revenue and keep his lordship happy .
Of course I’m only speculating but if I was a betting man this would be my direction.

I work in construction and really do deem an external hoist, scaffold, perimeter fencing, hoarding, manifestation (to cover the hoist view), work persons in high-viz and hard hats using power tools, to be construction. I guess I am not that clued up on it as a GM though.

I had that thought but as of the other week it had wide open availability for the whole year (other than a few days booked here and there), and then the other day the next 12 months really did get blocked off. So I figure they didn't know when they'd have to shut it down so they kept booking it until the last building permit came through and the crew was on site. I guess they figured the few of us who got screwed wouldn't care/matter.

https://www.thecaterer.com/news/sple...-oaknorth-hsbc

sure this had something to do with the recent email.

This article says Hilton bankside is adding a whopping 76 bedrooms !
How exactly are they going to do that except by adding passages to one of the buildings next door ??
Adding more than 1 floor to the existing building would greatly increase the weight load, and I can't see that being safe in any way.

Maybe digging down like an Oligarch's London mansion?

The hotel is effectively 3 buildings stuck together in a triangle, but each building has a different top floor, and top line steps down. The main and biggest part of the building (on the left if looking from Great Suffolk Street, red brick facade) currently goes to floor level 6 and tops out at 25 metres from the floor. The new storey will add 7 meters to give a new topline of 32 metres. On the right side is the most modern slice of the hotel, with a white facade and it is next to the pedestrianised Price's Street, but it only goes to floor 4. In between is a narrow building structure, of dark glass which includes the main revolving door entrance, and currently going to floor 5. So in addition to the new top floor, there will be 1 extra floor on the main right side, so it would now go to floor 5. And the middle section will get 2 extra floors, floors 6 and 7, with floor 6 partly going over the new right side floor 5. So it is still a set of steps on the topline, but 1 or 2 floors higher than before. The hotel currently has 282 bedrooms. These buildings were almost certainly originally constructed with a view to going higher, and the extra 1 or 2 floors will be very light - lots of glass rather than concrete. Since the middle building is already mainly glass the new floors will look like they have spilled upward from the centre. The original plan was for 82 bedrooms, they cut some out to continue the stepped topline.

https://www.se1.news/hilton-bankside...sion-approved/

see pic of proposed extension here best guess is the current suites get divided into new smaller rooms and suites are added up top in the glass extensions.