Location

An imposing yet reserved structure, the Town Hall Hotel oozes class. Its rectangular building sits perpendicular to the busy Cambridge Heath Road and spanning almost the full length of Patriot Square.

It is, to be honest, something of an odd location for a luxury hotel. Bethnal Green is an area still a little rough around the edges and the immediate high street fare is dominated by kebab shops and garages. However, you don’t have to go much further for some of the real delights of East London.

Walking distance from Borough Market and London Fields to the north, the plush suburbia of Victoria Park Village and Victoria Park to the east, and Shoreditch and Columbia Road Flower Market (every Sunday) to the west, there plenty to do in the local area. Plus, two of our favourite London restaurants, Hurwundeki (Korean) and Bistrotechque (Modern European), are barely a stone’s throw from the hotel’s front door.

Just a couple of minutes south, Bethnal Green Underground station connects with Liverpool Street, central London and beyond.

Rooms

We stayed in a Studio room and were hugely impressed by the generous floor area and layout of the room. With living space on one side and the bed and bathroom on the other, a hideaway kitchen splits the room into too, acting as a partition.

The living space boasted a mid-century sofa, arm chair, coffee and full dining table, while sliding back the covers on the kitchen structure revealed a full hob, oven, microwave, sink and countertop. For guests enjoying an extended stay or travelling with family, having a kitchen in the room could be of huge benefit, while being able to hide it away is a very smart execution.

The bed on the other side was just as impressive. A hugely comfy mattress, luxurious pillows and crisp sheets paved the way for a wonderful night’s sleep, and the powerful air-con keeping the room cool despite a surprisingly tropical night in London.

A desk sat at the end of the bed in case you need to set up an office away from the office, though it proved just as handy for turning a laptop the other way around and watching a late night movie under the covers.

Bathroom

Part of an surprising trend in more modern hotels, the bedroom and bathrooms were only separated by a glass wall, and some rooms don’t have a divider at all. While visually connecting the shower bath with the bedroom might be alluring for a couple, partners would have to be very comfortable with each other to use the toilet in plain sight too.

Luckily there was a curtain which can be pulled across (on the bedroom side) for bathroom privacy.

Inside the bathroom, the fixtures and fitting were superb. The attention to detail on the finish was hugely impressive while the bath/shower was perfectly suited to both a relaxing soak and a quick morning refresh; the ceiling mounted shower head felt hugely luxurious.

Amenities

Tucked away in the basement, a suave gym and pool are the Town Hall Hotel’s jewel in the crown. Warmly lit by a full length skylight, the pool might not be the biggest but its long and thin shape is still perfect for a few morning lengths or just relaxing in the shallow end. The onlooking gym is perfect if you don’t have your trunks, boasting everything from a treadmill and cross-trainer to a rowing machine and weights.

Guests can also enjoy free WiFi throughout the hotel, including in their rooms, and free milk and daily newspapers from the lobby. The fantastic original function rooms are available for hire for weddings and meetings too.

Restaurants and bars

We ate at the Corner Room, the more casual of the Town Hall Hotel’s two restaurants. A cosy, stylish space, the Corner Room seats around 10 parties, maintaining a healthy atmosphere without overpowering your dinner conversation.

We started the meal with two tasty cocktails, each served in a trendy jam jar, plus some delicious home-baked bread. The menu changes depending on the season and available from local meat, fish and vegetable markets, but we had the John Dory with Cornish Crab and would thoroughly recommended it. But our desert was even better.

Though you might be tempted to share, get one of the Griottines with Honeycomb Ice Cream each; it is magnificent.

If you are looking for a more relaxed dining experience, the Corner Room really fits the bill. The restaurant was not pretentious, and while it suits the style of the hotel perfectly, it is approachable for people who are not guests too. The Corner Room is also home to the breakfast service, including a particularly delicious Vanilla Porridge.

The Typing Room on the ground floor offers a finer dining experience. Starter will set you back £10-£15, while mains are around £20-£25. A seven-course tasting menu is also available.

Finally on the ground floor is the hotel’s cocktail bar, Peg + Patriot. Boasting a smart and inventive cocktail menu, many of the weird and wonderful ingredients and cocktail base alcohols – including tasty nasturtium vodka – are made in-house. The Rice Rice Baby was our favourite of the bunch.

Verdict

Walking into the lobby, you immediately get a sense of the grandeur and history of the Town Hall Hotel; combining architectural and Art Deco splendour with cutting-edge design. The hotel makes a wonderful first impression and after winning the prestigious RICS London award for Building Conservation, the owner really deserves great credit for maintaining so much of the original ambience and character. But the hotel is so much more than just a wonderful building.

The staff are well-trained, friendly, and forthcoming, while the rooms balance a feeling of luxury and attention to detail with the welcome amenities of home.

Supremely comfortable beds, a fantastic pool in the basement and the lavish breakfast spread really make the Town Hall Hotel the standout hotel in this part of town. It’s the ideal reason to push your comfort zone and see an areas of London visitors might not have previously considered. If you are coming to London for a day or a month, the Town Hall Hotel could be the place for you.

For reservations and more, please visit: www.townhallhotel.com
Town Hall Hotel, Patriot Square, Bethnal Green, London, E2 9NF

Location

Situated on Shoreditch High Street, Ace Hotel London is at the heart of East London’s Shoreditch. Known as a nightlife hotspot with some of the best restaurants, bars and clubs London has to offer, Shoreditch is also home to great shopping streets and walking distance to tourist spot, Brick Lane.

In between a number of Underground and Overground stations, getting around from the Ace Hotel London couldn’t be easier. Barely a 10 minute walk to either Old Street or Liverpool Street Tube stops and the equally well connected Shoreditch High Street Overground, when you want to venture out of E1, you’ll be able to get where you want to go in no time.

Rooms

The hip and modern design of the rooms will feel at home for anyone who has stayed at an Ace before. With a huge, comfy bed in the middle the rooms, the minimal style keeps the rooms feeling spacious and airy. The inviting blue patchwork APC bedspreads are an exclusive for Ace Hotel London and make you want to tear back the covers and jump right in.

A feature at Ace Hotels worldwide, alongside room service and mini bar menus is a price list for all the items in the room, and if you fancy the waffle robes, aforementioned bedspread or even the record player, just pack them up when you leave and charge the fee to your room. It’s a little strange at first, but when you think about it, it’s actually quite a clever idea. I couldn’t count on one hand the number of times I’ve wished I was able to take something from a plush hotel room back with me.

Elsewhere in the rooms, comfy sofas mean you can crash in front of the TV without having to get into bed, while swish tables are perfect for your own mini office or eating breakfast in your room.

Bathroom

There’s no doubt Ace Hotel London spent a lot of money refurbishing the bathrooms, and it shows. With the floors in a sleek black tile, all en suites feature a bath and copious amounts of Ace-branded products from a bottle on the wall.

The bathrooms feel pleasantly serious and complement the style of the rooms and rest of the hotel perfectly.

Amenities

The hotel offers free WiFi throughout the hotel, including in your room, and though it isn’t spectacularly fast, it’s enough for browsing the internet and catching up on emails. There’s a wonderfully long work bar in the lobby too, if you want to plug in your laptop or whip out a newspaper.

The common space throughout the hotel is a dream. Expansive and relaxing, the lobby in particular is perfect if you’re meeting a friend or need a space for a meeting. If you want to kick things up a notch, the hotel offers a 24-hour gym in the basement. Boasting a rowing machine, two treadmills, two cycling machines and a sauna, it might not be the biggest space but it is certainly well equipped. There is also a florist on the ground floor.

Restaurants and bars

Hotel restaurant, Hoi Polloi, is the brainchild of the team behind Bistroteque and located on the lower ground floor. Serving a fashionably British menu with some modern American additions, Hoi Polloi has something of a party atmosphere with large groups all around sharing plates and having fun. The dishes have touches of experimental fine dining but are, on the whole, homely and rich with flavour. We’d recommend the deserts too, with dishes like Poached Rhubarb and Rum and Raison Rice Pudding proving too tempting to ignore.

Hoi Polloi also offer a fantastic midnight supper menu, open until 1am from Thursdays through Saturdays, and 24-hour room service for hotel guests. Return for breakfast for the sweet or savoury ricotta pancakes and their energising juices.

On the ground floor of the hotel is a cafe and bar, making great use of the communal and gallery spaces, while the (thoroughly sound-proofed) basement bar is a bit more lively with DJs until late.

Verdict

There’s no doubt Ace Hotel London hangs it hat on its style, but the hotel is also extremely comfortable and welcoming, with helpful concierge staff, an excellent restaurant and happening bars. There’s no doubt the hotel caters for a more cosmopolitan crowd, but that’s Ace through and through, and in the heart of Shoredtich, they shouldn’t do it any other way.

For reservations and more, please visit: www.acehotel.com/london
Ace Hotel London, 100 Shoreditch High Street, London, E1 6JQ

There are eight hotel rooms to stay in, we enjoyed the superior room on the top floor, although a bit of exercise is required to climb those stairs to the sixth floor as there isn’t a lift. There are numerous objects and pieces of furniture that catch the eye in the rooms. A balance of the quirky and the stylish, from the miniature Alice in Wonderland-type chair in the corner to a high-end Bang & Olufsen telephone on a side-table. The high double-bed was comfortable and cosy and perfect for couples, while you can look forward to a delicious morning coffee from the cute little cafetiere in each room.

One of the most attractive features in the hotel room though, is the huge Victorian bath that stands proudly on well-crafted vintage legs. After a day spent in the city it’s the ideal luxury to come back to, to allow tired muscles to soak and relax.

The dining area/public house has a really great vibe. The staff are smiley, super friendly and very engaging and there’s an impressive selection of cocktails to try; go for the Scottish Mojito and the Grazing Zombie. The gastro-style menu is equally impressive with some really mouth-watering dishes. The restaurant may lean towards the pricey side a little but the food is worth it. Breakfast, too, is delicious. A hearty, wonderfully-cooked Full English by the fire is a really delightful way to start any day.

The Grazing Goat has it all: charm, character, style, eccentricity and taste. It’s a lovely choice for those looking for a stay in an old-school inn with a modern-day look.

For reservations and more, please visit: www.thegrazinggoat.co.uk
The Grazing Goat, 6 New Quebec Street, London, W1H 7RQ

We were fortunate enough to stay on the 18th – and top – floor, with Hyde Park for a back garden and sprawling city skyline views that are a sight to behold. The hotel’s location adjacent to Hyde Park is perfect for a romantic stroll while there is also a Barclays Bike spot at the foot of the hotel for an easy option to explore the area. Shoppers will also rejoice at being but a ten-minute walk away from the delights of Oxford Street.

Our double room was spacious and clean with little touches like complimentary Turkish delight on arrival that don’t go unnoticed. Robes neatly folded on the bed and slippers awaiting tired feet, were very welcome respites when returning to the room in the evening after a tiring day out. It certainly helped that the double bed was exceedingly comfortable too, making for a wonderful night’s sleep. Should you wish to order a late night tipple and/or a midnight cheeseburger, rest assured that room service is 24-hours.

The Lancaster London boasts two in-house restaurants; Island Grill and Nipa. The former is – as the name suggests – a grill that specialises in food from the land and sea. The fish is delicious and freshly caught by fishermen on day boats on the coastlines of Kent and Sussex. For the romantics, however, we’d thoroughly recommend Thai restaurant Nipa. Managed by Kaseam Jongpitakrat, the restaurant was named after the owner’s wife – Nipa – and overlooks the luscious green of Hyde Park. The food is authentic and expertly prepared by Head Chef, Nongyao Thoopchoi, and her team.

Classy and relaxed, the Lancaster London is a superb London choice, whether it’s for a special occasion or for a simple mini-break, whether you live in the city or not.

For reservations and more, please visit: www.lancasterlondon.com
Lancaster London, Lancaster Terrace, London, W2 2TY

Location

One of the world’s historic railway hotels, the Great Northern Hotel has been an intrinsic part of King’s Cross station since is was built in 1854. Now incorporated into the recent redevelopment of the station, the Great Northern Hotel sits proudly aside the magnificent frontage of King’s Cross, overlooking the new pedestrianised square. Not that you’d know it in the rooms as you can’t hear but a peep from the station and trains below.

The proximity to King’s Cross and St. Pancras International stations makes the Great Northern Hotel the most connected hotel in London. On six Underground lines, Thameslink and National Rail, it’s easy for tourists and business travellers alike to reach all corners of London and the UK, while St. Pancras International connects to Paris and central Europe beyond.

By foot, guests are just 10 minutes walk from Angel, Euston or Russell Square, and in under half an hour you could walk to Shoreditch, Oxford Street or Camden.

The King’s Cross area has improved a lot over the last 10 years and is in the midst of a regeneration scheme itself. New restaurants and bars are opening regularly in the area, seen as an exciting and safe neighbourhood, both day and night.

Building

Carefully renovating the original architecture, the hotel exterior was also given a new lease of life as part of the £42m makeover. The building is a long, sweeping arc, holding its own alongside the gothic structures of St. Pancras and imposing industrial frontage of King’s Cross.

The wide and utterly majestic, sweeping hallways span the full length of the hotel building, with a keycard required to enter each floor for safety.

Rooms

We stayed in a Cubitt room, the largest of the three types. With big sash windows on two sides of the room, the space is flooded by natural light and feels perfectly spacious. The colour palette of olive green and cream is confident and elegant as the room oozed class.

All of the rooms feature bespoke furniture which fits the space perfectly, including a fantastically comfortable king bed at its core. There isn’t acres of space to unpack but a slim built-in cupboard to hang items and shelves for folded clothes will be more than enough for most travellers.

The real test was in our sleep, and we got a fantastic night’s rest.

The two other room types are Wainscot; featuring Black American Walnut Wainscot panelling and a darker palette to create a real sanctuary of sleep away from the bustle of London’s streets, and Couchette; inspired by traditional railway carriage sleepers and with a seating and bedside space built into the end of the bed.

Bathroom

The en-suite in every room features either a luxurious roll-top bath – so deep it feels like you could stand and the water would still come up to your waist – or a walk-in shower – most of which are a ‘party shower’ with two shower heads and heaps of room to share the space with your partner(s). The attention to detail and quality of the fixtures and fitting is marked, and you can really feel the care given to the bathrooms.

Robes are waffles rather than towel and the bathroom products are all from Malin + Goetz.

Amenities

Although you wouldn’t necessarily expect a pool and spa from a boutique hotel of this size, no gym within the building was a bigger miss. Facilities elsewhere, however, were excellent.

Available in your room and throughout the hotel, ultra-fast 500Mb WiFi is free for all guests plus an in-room entertainment package to rival an international flight. Offering over 70 films to stream on-demand for free and 96 TV channels including Sky (and Sky Sports) and international channels from across the world, if you do stay in, there’s plenty to keep you entertained.

The real revelation is the pantry on each floor. With newspapers and magazines for guests to take back to their rooms, the hotel’s excellent kitchen delivers a homemade cake every day at 4pm. Add to that, a Nespresso machine that makes remarkably good coffees, this is such a good idea it really should be the hotel norm. There’s a mini Nespresso machine and mini-bar in every room too.

Plum + Spilt Milk restaurant

The Great Northern Hotel’s restaurant, Plum + Spilt Milk is the vision of Michelin-starred chef, Mark Sergeant, and deserves to be heralded as its own successful venture.

Feeling something like the sister to Bob Bob Ricard – our favourite restaurant in London – both the decor, food and drinks give the Soho restaurant a run for its money.

Offering elegant British dishes with touches of extravagance and creativity, the menu feels homely and up to date. While it is certainly a fine dining experience, little touches like more modern background music, not stuffy jazz, and gorgeous menus and crockery design make all the difference. If you are dining there in the evening we would highly recommend the loin of venison, sharing the honey roasted parsnips and buttered mash on the side.

The dining room itself is spread out, with a long sweeping structure running almost the full length of the room and providing seating for tables on either side. Generous tables with oversized – and fantastically comfortable – seating fill the galleys on either side, with more than ample space between parties.

Guests are invited down for breakfast and it’s a fantastic way to start the day. The coffee and freshly-squeezed juices are both great and we had the refreshing fresh fruit salad and the particularly delicious brioche French toast, with fresh berries and crème fraîche.

The hotel also offers two bars, a larger bar downstairs also offering a select menu and open to the public, and a more private, smaller bar adjoining the restaurant upstairs. The bars offer a pleasantly small cocktail list – think 10 cocktails over two pages rather than 50 cocktails over five – and the Northern Soul in particular went down very, very easily. We’d recommend a couple of romantic drinks after dinner to really cap off a great evening. You can read our full review of Plum + Spilt Milk here.

Verdict

We really don’t have a bad word to say about the Great Northern Hotel and were really blown away by the attention to detail and quality of the experience. While it would be nice if the hotel offered a gym, it’s really just the smallest of niggles and the ambience and railway-inspired look and feel of the hotel is spot on. The £42m renovation was as thorough as that figure might suggest; they haven’t cut a single corner and it really paid off. We couldn’t have been any more impressed by the rooms, restaurant and more.

Originally built in 1854 to serve customers of the Great Northern Rail Company, the Great Northern Hotel has the heritage and class to be truly regarded as one of the absolute finest best hotels in London. As a guest, the hotel feels grand but on a personal scale. Like the staff will know you by name but you still have all the wonder and wow factor of something so much bigger.

The fantastic transport connections might mean the Great Northern Hotel is seen as somewhere for one- or two-night business travellers and as a Eurostar stopgap. If I were in London holidaying for a week or more, however, I couldn’t think of anywhere I’d rather stay than here. The hotel is perfect for those who live in London and want a romantic and idyllic getaway from home too.

Ask for a room at the end of the southern wing, with fantastic views over King’s Cross Square and the skyline of central London.

The Great Northern Hotel is magnificent hotel for the luxuriant traveller and a peaceful haven away from bustling London below, it couldn’t come more highly recommended.

For reservations and more, please visit: www.gnhlondon.com
Great Northern Hotel, King’s Cross St. Pancras Station, Pancras Road, London, N1C 4TB