Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
including handpainted wallpaper, posh toiletries, fresh milk
and cookies, and clawfoot tub
s, som
e of them in the
bedrooms themselves. Free wi-fi.
£110
Grange Langham Court Hotel
31-35 Langham St,
W1
T
020 7436 6622,
W
grangehotels.com;
!
Oxford
Circus; map p.97.
Rooms may be tiny at this fifty-room
hotel in a quiet location near Regent St, but they're clean,
modern and
comf
ortable, and the price, for this location, is
reasonable.
£130
Ì
Hazlitt's
6 Frith St, W1
T
020 7434 1771,
W
hazlittshotel.com;
!
Tottenham Court Road; map
p.100.
Off the south side of Soho Square, this early
eighteenth-century building hides away a hotel of
extraordinary character and charm. Creaky, crooked
old stairs lead up to romantic en-suite rooms, exquisitely
and quirkily decorated with period furniture and old
books. A co
ntinen
tal breakfast (not included) is served in
your room.
£250
Nadler Soho
10 Carlisle St, W1
T
020 3697 3697,
T
Tthenadler.com;
!
Tottenham Court Road; map
p.100.
Glossy new hotel offering reasonable prices for this
premium location. Rooms are modern, if unexciting (the
cheapest are pretty small), but each has a microwave, fridge
and kettle - along with coffee machine - so you could
effectively self-cater. A bagged breakfast is provid
ed fro
m
the superb
Fernandez & Wells
(see p.369). Free wi-fi.
£160
One Leicester Street
1 Leicester St, WC2
T
020 3301
8020,
W
oneleicesterstreet.com;
!
Leicester Square;
map p.100.
Rooms in the heart of Chinatown, providing
diners at the restaurant downstairs - helmed by Tom Harris
of the
St John
stable (see p.370) - an opportunity to sleep
off their snail and sweetbread feasts. The fifteen roo
ms are
fresh, contemporary, minimal and stylish. Free wi-fi.
£180
rooms - including
a few
apartment suites, sleeping from
one to four people.
£135
Ì
Ridgemount Hotel
65-67 Gower St, WC1
T
020
7636 1141,
W
ridgemounthotel.co.uk;
!
Goodge
Street; map p.120.
Old-fashioned, friendly and popular
family-owned B&B, faded but clean, with a variety of
rooms (around half of the 33 have shared facilities - which
are spotless, and sizeable). The smallest rooms (very
small!) are co
sy;
family rooms available. Full breakfast
and free wi-fi.
£78
KING'S CROSS
Great Northern Hotel
Pancras Rd, N1C
T
020 3388
0800,
W
gnhlondon.com;
!
King's Cross St Pancras;
map p.120.
With King's Cross/St Pancras continuing to
blossom as a railway hub, and following in the wake of the
St Pancras Renaissance
(see below), the
Great Northern
,
another lovely old Victorian railway hotel, re-opened in
2013. It offers a fresher, hipper vibe than its stately
neighbour, with a vaguely Deco feel, and unusually for a
luxury hotel, extras - including wi-fi, plus coffee, pastries,
books and mags in the “pantries” on each floor - are free.
All the ninety or so boutiquey rooms have huge windows;
the smallest, “couchettes”, turn their diminutive size into a
positive by evoking the romance of a railway sleeper. The
huge bar is modelled on a buzzing French railway station
brasserie, and the M
odern
European restaurant,
Plum +
Spilt Milk
, is excellent.
£150
Rough Luxe
1 Birkenhead St, WC1
T
020 7837 5338,
W
roughluxe.co.uk;
!
King's Cross St Pancras; map
p.120.
In an unlikely setting on the gentrifying streets of
King's Cross, this high-concept nine-room hotel offers
warmth, comfort and über shabby chic. Each room is
different, and some are minuscule, but the arty, nostalgic
aesthetic - ripped wallpaper and peeling plaster, the odd
vintage TV, original artworks, creaky old floorboards - runs
throu
ghout
. A posh continental breakfast is served. Free
wi-fi.
£170
St Pancras Renaissance
Euston Rd, NW1
T
020 7841
3540,
W
marriott.co.uk/hotels/travel/lonpr-st-pancras;
!
King's Cross St Pancras; map p.120.
George Gilbert
Scott's Gothic Revival masterpiece (see p.129), now a
five-star
Marriott
hotel, is certainly a thrilling spectacle
- the lofty public spaces and colossal lobby evoke the
golden era of railway travel, and old-style glamour seeps
from every surface. It's only worth staying in the main
building, though - which has fewer than fifty of the
250 or so rooms - these, with their arched windows and
high ceilings, and slight rumblings from the station
below, might justify the stratospheric prices. The others
are in an annexe behind, and better value can be found
elsewhere. The atmospheric, expensive, bar is a
destination in itself. Online deals and
Marr
iott
pr
omotions
can halve the rack rates. Wi-fi costs extra.
£275
23
BLOOMSBURY
Arosfa Hotel
83 Gower St, WC1
T
020 7636 2115,
W
arosfalondon.com;
!
Goodge Street or Euston
Square; map p.120.
Though the public spaces are relatively
swish, the fifteen en-suite rooms in this popular, friendly B&B
are basic and some are very small. But it's clean, comfortable
and homely, with TVs, tea and coffee facilities,
and
a little
garden out back. Free wi-fi in the guest lounge.
£107
Jesmond Hotel
63 Gower St, WC1
T
020 7636 3199,
W
jesmondhotel.org.uk;
!
Goodge Street; map p.120.
Very good-value Bloomsbury hotel with a peaceful little
garden. Rooms are clean but can be on the small side; staff
are unfailingly friendly and they'll do your laundry for
£7.50. Six of the fifteen rooms (from singles to rooms
sleeping five) hav
e sha
red facilities. Full breakfast; free
wi-fi in the lounge.
£85
Morgan Hotel
24 Bloomsbury St, WC1
T
020 7636
3735,
W
morganhotel.co.uk;
!
Tottenham Court
Road; map p.120.
A reliable guesthouse, right by the
British Museum, with functional, clean and comfortable
