ONE OF the dullest-looking buildings in London is likely to get the uber-cool treatment from Ian Schrager, the king of hip hotel design.

Schrager, known around the world for the kind of hotels that are always beyond the budget of small outfits such as as the Loving Dalston, wants to give an upscale make-up to the 196-room Crowne Plaza in Shoreditch E1 6JQ.

Schrager, and Westmont Hospitality and Grove International Partners, are believed to have bid £75 million for the property at 100 Shoreditch High Street, previously named the Saint Gregory.

Told the news by Loving Dalston, some staff  were excited, although they admitted to nervousness  about coping with the likely increase in celebrity patronage. The present clientele is mostly business: comparatively dull people but less demanding. Even an averagely skilled negotiator can get a room off peak at present for about £100 a night.

If Schrager’s deal goes through, it could mark the beginning of the end of Shoreditch – or, as the original Ditchies grow ever older and more demanding, a next stage and a new kind of area.