Alfie Best reveals plan for £100M ‘Burj al Gypsy’ with 5* hotels & VIP lounges

Alfie, who is now on track to make his first billion, said that the building would feature a “budget hotel”, estimating a price of around £89 – £120 a night to stay in. It will also include a spa, restaurants and a bar and lounge area – within the price range of people who live and work nearby.

Alfie Best, who founded caravan park titan Wyldecrest Parks, is Britain's richest Gypsy
Alfie Best, who founded caravan park titan Wyldecrest Parks, is Britain’s richest GypsyCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
Plans for how Alfie Best's 'Burj al Gypsy' might look if erected in Essex
Plans for how Alfie Best’s ‘Burj al Gypsy’ might look if erected in EssexCredit: Alia Beyg/Aqua Architecture
Pictured: Plans for the Thurrock site, featuring a penthouse, rooftop restaurant, 'co-living' spaces and a spa
Pictured: Plans for the Thurrock site, featuring a penthouse, rooftop restaurant, ‘co-living’ spaces and a spaCredit: Alia Beyg/Aqua Architecture
The Wyldecrest Park site in Thurrock, Essex, which Alfie plans to turn into an 'iconic' superstructure
The Wyldecrest Park site in Thurrock, Essex, which Alfie plans to turn into an ‘iconic’ superstructureCredit: wyldecrest

“It was something we looked at to build there – an iconic building right next to the QE2 [Queen Elizabeth II] bridge.But over the next four or five months, Alfie’s team will be putting in a pre-application for planning permission for Essex.He is now on track to reach his first billion soon and join the ranks of the UK’s 165 billionaires.He added: “We did have a meeting with the council maybe approximately a year ago and it was very well welcomed by the council on initial discussion.

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“Will there be a five-star restaurant? Absolutely – but there will be no five-star hotel.”When asked if it would contain luxurious five-star hotels and restaurants, Alfie said: “If we take it to the Middle East it will be built for that. “I think it’ll be a massive benefit for essex and london if it gets the go-aheadHis current lifestyle is a stark contrast to how he grew up, having been born in a roadside caravan and taught to work from an early age

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“To that point it lends itself to a budget hotel.”ALFIE Best has revealed plans for a ‘Burj al Gypsy’ skyscraper in Essex – but threatened to take it overseas if it’s not greenlit.

Alfie Best will be world’s first Gypsy BILLIONAIRE after wealth soared by £202m

He is currently in Qatar, scoping out potential sites and developers. “It pains me not to be investing in the UK – I’d rather be investing in the UK.”In that case, plans for budget hotels and affordability go out the window – in favour of five-star hotels and luxury restaurants for the wealthiest few. The dad-of-two also boasts a £10million yacht moored in Cannes, along with a £4million Knightsbridge townhouse.He is now proudly one of the 350 wealthiest men and women in Britain, earning himself a spot on the exclusive listHe estimated the cost of the Essex project as around £50million, though it is understood that it could cost up to twice that much – particularly if it becomes a tower for the mega-rich in Qatar. “As the project moves forward, it promises to set new standards in sustainable and integrated community living.”But now he spends his time browsing £25million apartments in Monaco’s millionaire’s playground after moving earlier this year.

Floor plans for the penthouse at the top of the structure
Floor plans for the penthouse at the top of the structureCredit: Alia Beyg/Aqua Architecture
Below the penthouse and the gym/cafe area are the apartments
Below the penthouse and the gym/cafe area are the apartmentsCredit: Alia Beyg/Aqua Architecture
Beneath the apartments is the 'co-living' area
Beneath the apartments is the ‘co-living’ areaCredit: Alia Beyg/Aqua Architecture
Office space: Plans for the Essex site also include room for an office area
Office space: Plans for the Essex site also include room for an office areaCredit: Alia Beyg/Aqua Architecture
Alfie was born to Romani gypsies in a caravan on the side of a road near Leicester, he started work before he was ten
Alfie was born to Romani gypsies in a caravan on the side of a road near Leicester, he started work before he was tenCredit: Twitter
The site is set to include a number of green spaces
The site is set to include a number of green spacesCredit: Alia Beyg/Aqua Architecture

“That’s exactly what I’m doing here [in Qatar] – looking for other spaces if we’re refused in the UK.”That, hopefully, is what we want to put in – a budget hotel. “It’s not being built in Mayfair, Knightsbridge or central London, it’s being built in a working town on the outskirts, on the corridor of the centre of London.The Wyldecrest Park Tower will contain “co-living” and “co-working” spaces along with hotel services, a business centre, VIP lounges and private offices, according to planning permission docs. Alfie has been living a life of luxury in a lavish £7million Surrey mansion, driving a fleet of classic motors and even owning an Airbus ACH130 helicopter.Invitees and star guests were greeted with an elaborately decorated 18-seater dining table, and tasteful goodie bags filled with gifts including perfume and hair combs.”You’ve got the industraial area you’ve got the M25 and QE2 right there. But he added that, while his first choice is to build an affordable site for people in Britain, if those plans are scuppered then the project will have to become something for the super-rich in the Middle East.

Millionaire Alfie Best, who owns his own Airbus ACH130 helicopter, is seeking planning permission to build a 28-storey megastructure
Millionaire Alfie Best, who owns his own Airbus ACH130 helicopter, is seeking planning permission to build a 28-storey megastructureCredit: Arthur Edwards / The Sun
The dad-of-two boasts a whopping property portfolio, including ten rental villas in Barbados, and a Hertfordshire golf course
The dad-of-two boasts a whopping property portfolio, including ten rental villas in Barbados, and a Hertfordshire golf courseCredit: Alfie Best – supplied
Alfie moved to Monaco to live the high life after building a business empire
Alfie moved to Monaco to live the high life after building a business empireCredit: Twitter

Alia Beyg, of Aqua Architecture ltd, said: “The Wyldecrest Park Tower at 857 Wyldecrest Parks, Thurrock represents a forward-thinking approach to urban development, combining living, working, and leisure in a single eco-friendly and holistic environment. But while Alfie’s first choice is to build in Britain, he says if he is denied planning permission or otherwise hindered in his bid to start the project, he will have to take it to the Middle East.As well as his holiday property empire, Alfie is also the owner of non-league East Thurrock United, which he snapped up during Covid.He said it would be a five-year project.He was greeted with an immensely warm welcome – where the local community hosted an elaborate birthday bash for the businessman.Business mogul Alfie recently celebrated on a £9million superyacht and splashed out on a £500,000 Rolls Royce after his Sunday Times Rich List success.His immense net worth climbed a further £202 million in the last year – meaning he is well on track to becoming Britain’s first Romany Gypsy billionaire. 

Picturied: What the café and gallery in the 'active frontage' may look like
Picturied: What the café and gallery in the ‘active frontage’ may look likeCredit: Alia Beyg/Aqua Architecture
The building is also set to include a spa along the lower levels
The building is also set to include a spa along the lower levelsCredit: Alia Beyg/Aqua Architecture
Alfie Best says he wants to build the project in Essex - but will take it to the Middle East if he's scuppered
Alfie Best says he wants to build the project in Essex – but will take it to the Middle East if he’s scupperedCredit: Vandercom Films
The project is expected to take around five years, Alfie said (pictured: How the site might look when complete)
The project is expected to take around five years, Alfie said (pictured: How the site might look when complete)Credit: Alia Beyg/Aqua Architecture

Alfie told The Sun today that his first preference for the skyscraper is for working people in Essex, but if that cannot go ahead then he will look to develop it in Qatar or the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah.”It only takes one building to start a knock-on effect.””It’ll be a budget hotel below, I use the phrase something like a Holiday Inn Express, that’s what the area requires. Alfie amassed his fortune after founding caravan park titan Wyldecrest Parks – which is worth around £947 million.”It was to really make a statement point for the borough.”Alfie said: “I see this as being an iconic building and the gateway for Essex and London. Britain’s richest Gypsy, 54, has grand plans for the 28-storey mega-structure in Thurrock, Essex. The tower – which Alfie affectionately dubbed the ‘Burj Al Gypsy’ – will become an “iconic” structure and revitalise the area, the businessman said. Alfie, who founded caravan park titan Wyldecrest Parks, told The Sun: “We wanted to build there because Thurrock has been such a welcoming  borough to us as a company.

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“They’re also going to be building another crossing across the Thames. “I’ll 100% take the project elsewhere if not given planning permission,” he said.

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