Ah, the feeling of entering your hotel room for the first time, don’t you love it? Especially when the place has that quirky, funky vibe that makes you think “Oh, I chose a really cool hotel, I have great taste, and I’m JUST AS cool”… you don’t get that? Oh, okay.
ANYWAY, anyone can aenjoy a basic, nice, standard hotel, but cool stuff is for cool people, so here’s a list for my people looking for a funky stay in London!
Let’s get started!
Leman Locke
Opened in 2016 in Shoreditch, it is actually what you’d call an apart-hotel: it has the style and comfort of a boutique hotel,paired with the flexibility and space of a serviced apartment (no, not like an AirBnB).
It’s also very much part of the local community, so you might be invited to mingle with locals at yoga, food events and exhibitions. It’s East London babeyy!
Obviously there are different options in terms of size and view, but rest assured: each accommodation has city views, a dining area and seating area with bespoke furniture and a flat-screen Samsung Smart TV with Google Chromecast. You know, in the odd case you’re bored. In East London.
There is also a fully equipped kitchen, a washing machine, dishwasher, oven, fridge, microwave and toaster. Plus all the things you’d expext in a good hotel.
Leman Locke also includes a fitness centre with gym, and there is a 24h reception and concierge service!
Mama Shelter, London Shoreditch
Here we go again with Shoreditch with this venue, unmistakably French, incredibly hipster. It boasts a Garden Terrace Bar, bold interiors and eye-catching artworks on the ceilings, and obviously some sort of mismatched country-house-like assortment of furnishings, with lampshades and pineapples ornating the tables.
The rooms themselves are quite basic-looking, but the real marvel is in the ambiance, the rest of the place, and the communal areas, like the Garden and the Karaoke rooms.
Nhow London, Islington
This international hotel is decorated by artworks that range from graffiti to royal portraits, colour-pop doors in homage to Notting Hill and a restaurant that riffs on the classic British pub.
Very eclectic in its design, it’s all very colourful and has so many objects and works of art you could quite happily spend many hours sitting in the bar trying to get the meaning of it all.
The hotel has collaborated with Jealous Gallery to showcase the work of London artists, so you’ll be able to enjoy some culture without even stepping out of the front door.
There are 199 rooms on floors 1-8, with one suite on each of the first seven floors and then a penthouse on the top floor. All of these are in the angled pointe of the building, and so have views across City Road and onto Macclesfield Road. The bar is known to be overpriced, but sitting in the midst of this bustle is free, and so is asking about the art pieces.
A favourite. While absolutely remarkable in general, the strongest point of this hotel is its commitment to the environment! so if you are looking for an incredible eco-friendly hotel with a panoramic view in London, this is the one.
The view is still absolutely dazzling, from the large windows of the rooms and the 16th-floor bar, and in a modern and innovative location. It looks at the same time industrial and natural, it’s an odd match but one that works perfectly. What we like the most is the plant-filled dining room, from which you can see the city while tasting something artfully and carefully crafted by their kitchen. Again, a favorite!
Lost Property St. Paul’s
Lost Property is the latest addition to Hilton’s creative chain of more boutique-like Curio hotels; it has just under 150 stylishly refurbished rooms, each with large, comfortable beds and bathrooms with high-quality finishes. But that’s not really the cool part abiut this place: the hotel really holds onto the ‘lost & found’ theme throughout various aspects, it’s in the cocktail menu, which needs a UV pen to be read, and some really curious artwork on the walls of the lounge bar, it’s a general air of “Huh”.
It sits just across St Paul’s Cathedral, in proximity to St Paul’s and the Millennium Bridge, a brisk walk from the Tate, The Globe and all the excitement of London’s Southbank. Although the primary location is more of a business-focused vibe, the hotel’s surroundings make it a good spot for tourists too, allowing them to be away from the hustle and bustle of the West End, but still keeping a foot in it. The hotel has one main restaurant and bar – called Found – and a very pretty Parisian-inspired coffee shop on the ground floor, the Tattle; both of these serve high quality food and drinks, so we warmly suggest you take advantage of that!
The Pilgrm, Paddington
Located close to Hyde Park, as well as Notting Hill and Marylebone, this Paddington hotel is the perfect place to base yourself during a trip to the capital.
Considering its position just across the road from the Underground, Heathrow Express and rail services, could have been a charmless commuter’s crashpad, instead the renovated Victorian building houses a regularly changing art collection, with the artwork coming directly from the team’s favourite creatives, and it changes every three months.
You get plush communal areas and nice British design meant to cosy up, and also a cocktail terrace overlooking the frenetic streets below. There are 73 rooms, – among which one with bunk beds – facing either London Street or Norfolk Square. They offer excellent value, the decor features bold blue carpets, repurposed radiators and lots of plants, as well as wrought-iron railings (which took 300 hours to revamp). Instead of in-room coffee and tea facilities, there are six shared ‘pantries’ throughout the hotel, with self-service beverages and biscuits.
You can tell that they like what they do. The owners, designers, creators, all those involved, really enjoy this project.
The Bedford, Balham
This is a different kind of cool. If you like loud, a little kitch aesthetics, it’s the one for you! The lobby and downstairs area of this 15-room boutique hotel showcases a charming circus theme, but the bedrooms are nothing less than amazing:
bold wallpapers, that kind of tubs, the whole ambiance goes for loud but stylish. It appears to be a hotbed for talent: Ed Sheeran, Paolo Nutini and KT Tunstall have all performed in the club house before becoming big! Same for new comedy talent, putting in its resume a young Harry Hill and Frank Skinner. There’s always something happening in the five bars, be it a swing dance or an open mic night and the buzzing pub guarantees a good time, a great meal (food is half-price on a Tuesday), and plenty of delicious cocktails.
New Road Hotel, Whitechapel
Industrial cool at it’s finest, matched with bright colours and a nice view, we can perfectly see the past of a former textiles factory in Whitechapel, showing with the exposed brick walls and huge metal-framed windows.
All rooms, even the smallest, come with a kingsize bed; the best loft room has its own hot tub on the roof – love, immediately. You can enjoy the social spaces, that include a games room with a pool table, a library and yoga studio, while the menu at the chophouse restaurant, centering around halal steaks, grills and chops, is devised by chef Marco Pierre White. Find within walking distance Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.
The Church Street Hotel in Southwark, Camberwell
Loud, Mexican, can’t-believe-we’re-in-London type of look. Handmade décor, fun, exuberant, kitsch and proud of it, in this family-run hotel owner José Radio did a great job to grant its guests some very attractive and original craftsmanship.
He even made the bedframes! There is much more to say, but we are at a loss for words trying to describe the charm of this place. Because it’s not just the general décor, it’s the walls, the sink, the tiles, the plates, the breakfast (great breakfast) and the service in this place. If this is your kind of cool, do yourself a favor and go.
And don’t forget to try their Sauce!
The Standard London
This is another favorite. Staying at The Standard feels like being on a cruiseship, or a spacepod, or an Seventies summer house, or at an opulent old uncle’s mansion – it’s confusing, it’s dizzying, it’s wonderful. colourful retro tiles, quirky lights and leather sofas for sinking into. There are even shag-pile rugs lining the walls.
It’s housed in a 1974 brutalist building; add to it a private library where you can borrow a book to read over your stay, a rooftop terrace, outside bathtubs to take a bath watching something better than Netflix, weekly music events and talks, plus a 360° view from the 10th floor? Yes please and thank you.