Hollywood star Robert De Niro has been given the green light to build a luxury boutique hotel in London.

The Wellington Hotel, based in Covent Garden, will include 83 guest rooms, a spa, a private members' club and two restaurants.

The renowned actor, famous for his roles in films such as Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Raging Bull and The Deer Hunter, was given the go ahead by Westminster City Council.

The hotel will be built between Wellington Street, Tavistock Street, Burleigh Street and Exeter Street, in the heart of London's West End.

Its neighbours will include the Lyceum Theatre - home of the Lion King production - the London Transport Museum, the Duchess Theatre and the Strand Palace Hotel.

Construction will involve redeveloping six buildings, three of which are Grade II-listed.

The development will include two restaurants - one which will cater for up to 150 diners, with an overflow dining room to provide for a further 120 guests.

The second restaurant will have room for up to 100 guests, while the private members' club will provide for 64 people, planning documents reveal.

There will also be a spa, with treatment rooms and a swimming pool open to hotel guests and non-residents.

Arranged around a central courtyard conservatory, the eight-storey high development will also provide office space and retail space.

Mr De Niro, 73, already owns The Greenwich Hotel in New York, which is regularly visited by Hollywood A-listers such as Reese Witherspoon and Bradley Cooper.

The Manhattan hotel is operated by Mr De Niro in partnership with BD Hotels. The London hotel will be run by the same set-up.

BD Hotels started in 1985 and is a leading hotel operator in the United States, and runs 26 hotels.

The developers are expected to shell out nearly £750,000 in payments under a Section 106 agreement, which forces them to contribute to the local area.

Westminster City Council is estimated to get £600,000 in a Community Infrastructure Levy payment, while the Mayor of London's office is set to get £126,000 for Crossrail.

Councillor Robert Davis, the council's deputy leader and planning chief, heaped praise on the scheme.

He said: "This is one of the finest schemes we have considered for Covent Garden in years.

"The design is of the highest quality and it fits the bill as a Covent Garden building that meshes the new with the old. The hotel will attract visitors from all over the world.

"It will be a brand new destination on the 'mean streets' of this largely forgotten part of Covent Garden, and so I am sure that taxi drivers across London will soon need to add the Wellington Hotel to their A-Zs."

Planning documents show The Lyceum Theatre expressed concerns about a loss of sunlight, and "increased sense of enclosure to the offices occupied by Disney".

But planning officers said it was fine and within the guidelines.

Work is due to start next year, and the hotel is scheduled to open its doors in 2019.