Mary Portas OBE and other residents of Chalcot Crescent in Primerose Hill, north London, say the road is set to be “pimped for profit” at their expense after the success of the latest Paddington Bear films
Mary Queen of Shops is one of several residents furious their street is to be “pimped for profit” as an Airbnb intends to cash in on Paddington Bear.
Work has already started to temporarily transform a house on Chalcot Crescent in Primrose Hill, north London into a replica of the one seen in the hit films. Airbnb says competition winners will spend a special night at the “Brown’s House” in what the company describes as a chance to go “inside worlds that only existed in your imagination”.
But Mary Portas OBE, known as Mary Queen of Shops, is one of a number of residents who’ve contacted Airbnb to voice their concerns. The business guru, 64, and her neighbours claim their street is already inundated by selfie stick-wielding TikTokers keen to pose beside the actual townhouse used in the Paddington Bear films, starring Hugh Bonneville, Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant.
In a group letter to Airbnb this week, residents said: “The global campaign you are embarking on using our street will only increase its already popular profile for tourists and the social media generation of digital-lifestyle over sharers. While some may see this as ‘sour grapes’ and the price one must pay to live on a beautiful street, it is the Paddington franchise to date that has created the current flow of tourists.
“An expensive media campaign will only amplify this and have an increased negative impact on all of our lives. Overall, we are getting tired of feeling that our street is being pimped by corporations for their profit.”
Airbnb’s PR team is looking to book in a string of influencers to get tongues wagging on social media. Major broadcasters and lifestyle magazines are set to be invited to a press preview later this month. The Paddington House is part of an “icons of Airbnb” publicity campaign for a new category of “extraordinary experiences” in the UK. Launched in the US earlier this year, the experiences have included a night in the Ferrari Museum, a recreation of Marvel’s X-Mansion and Prince’s Purple Rain house.
The residents’s letter suggested Paddington competition winners would “think twice” about wanting to stay in the house if they knew how “the project is getting in the way of the locals living peacefully on their street going about their daily lives”, adding: “Chalcot Crescent is our home, our real world. It is not a public or commercial venue.”
Images of what the Paddington Bear house will look have yet to be made public by Airbnb, which is donating £20,000 to the Primrose Hill Community Association for the imposition. A third Paddington film is set to be released in January.
Airbnb told Camden New Journal: “To celebrate the upcoming film release of Paddington in Peru and in partnership with Studiocanal, we’re bringing the magical home of Paddington to life for just three days … In this instance, we are making a sizable donation to the Primrose Hill Community Association.
“This is a temporary feature and the space will be fully restored in a matter of weeks. In all communication materials, we have not disclosed that the location is in Primrose Hill and in all our publicity, we will direct attention to Paddington’s fictional address Windsor Gardens.
“We respect the community and the homes within it. To ensure transparency, we sent a letter well in advance to inform local residents about this project.”
