London Trocadero

[1] The Trocadero Restaurant of J. Lyons and Co. opened in 1896 on a site on Coventry Street, near the theatres of the West End, which had been formerly occupied by the Argyll Rooms, where wealthy men hired prostitutes.

The new settings were done in an Opera Baroque style, and the various Trocaderos of the English-speaking world have derived their names from this original, the epitome of grand Edwardian catering.

But tenants were limited, and the half-finished development was eventually sold to Burford Group plc, led by Nick Leslau and Nigel Wray.

The launch of SegaWorld London, an indoor theme park occurred on 7 September 1996, which included a large statue of Sonic the Hedgehog over the front entrance.

Following the loss of Sega's sponsorship in 1999, Segaworld became Funland, named after the original arcade that had operated in the building since 1990,[3] and was subsequently reduced in size.

A new plan for a 583-bedroom hotel including "pod rooms", apartments, shops and a rooftop bar was approved by Westminster City Council in August 2012.

[8] The locked entrance and a handful of left-over arcade games and attractions remained in a much quieter, emptier Trocadero centre with spaces at basement level for street dancers.

Despite some online articles indicating that the venue would permanently close on 25 February 2014,[9] only a few areas were removed and others remained open while renovation and plans to build the hotel continued.

[11] Plans were submitted in May 2020 to develop parts of the building's basement into a mosque[12] but were later withdrawn in the wake of comments from the public voicing concerns over increased traffic and a place of worship being incongruous with the area's reputation for nightlife.