London is no stranger to tradition, from afternoon tea to the monarchy. But rebellion, from Guy Fawkes to the Sex Pistols to these nonconformist hotels, is never far behind.
By Mark Fedeli
Marketing and Editorial Director, Tablet Hotels
It’s hard for a hotel to be truly different in London. There’s a history of eccentricity baked into English hospitality. A culture of subtle cheekiness — born of that particularly British combination of humor and stoicism — that can infect even the most buttoned-up of accommodations. To really stand apart here, you’ve got to grab onto an explosive idea and follow it all the way through without fear of alienating guests who prefer something safer and more recognizable.
That doesn’t mean the hotels featured in this list are over the top, but they are each subversive in their own brave way. They embody what we always say are the best things about boutique hotels: personality and specificity. In some, it’s an architectural or design choice. In others, it’s a unique historical inspiration (or three) that’s threaded through the property. In all, it’s an overnight experience that always remembers the plot. I know of no reason why the hotels below should ever be forgot.
Town Hall Hotel
London, UK
The name tells you exactly what this hotel in Bethnal Green used to be, and why its old council chamber makes for a decidedly unique wedding venue. Town Hall Hotel lies a short distance eastward of London’s traditional hospitality centers. A 15-minute Tube ride is the price you pay for rooms that are this spacious, and services — not just a spa but an indoor pool as well — that would set you back thousands at the center of the city.
Chateau Denmark
London, UK
Denmark Street is where Melody Maker and NME got their start, where the Stones recorded an album, where Bowie and Hendrix hung out. Now, spread across no fewer than 16 buildings, it’s where Chateau Denmark pays tribute to that illustrious history with lavishly themed rooms that have a dark and moody Victorian vibe and rock-and-roll references — and, yes, you can stay in the very same mews house where the Sex Pistols once lived.
The BoTree
London, UK
“Conscious Luxury” is the ethos at BoTree, and what differentiates it from dime-a-dozen London opulence. Conscious means environmentally conscious — witness the plentiful greenery both inside and out. But in BoTree’s eyes, it means a devotion to nothing less lofty than Truth, Love, and Compassion. This manifests itself most concretely in the BoTree’s approach to service, which aims to be friendly, even familial, while remaining professional and discreet.
Treehouse Hotel London
London, UK
The design at Treehouse Hotel takes inspiration from its namesake, but just enough to avoid feeling unserious or childlike. In its rooms and suites there’s an eclectic mix of raw concrete, warm wooden surfaces, living greenery, and ultra-British coziness, complete with stuffed Paddington bears, well-thumbed books, and a yellow raincoat in every closet. Its location is no slouch either, positioned close to the capital’s busiest shopping district.
The Mandrake Hotel
London, UK
Some of London’s luxury boutique hotels are so tasteful they’re almost invisible. And then there’s the Mandrake. Set in a relatively sleepy section of Fitzrovia, it’s nothing short of a fantasy world, a moody, atmospheric 34-room boutique hotel surrounding a central courtyard full of hanging jasmine and passionflower. It’s named for a hallucinogenic root much beloved by occult practitioners; it’s only natural that a stay here should be a transformative experience.
Artist Residence London
London, UK
Artist Residence London is a throwback to the days when creative people could live well in West London without substantial family wealth. The setting, on a side street in Pimlico, places it close to any number of art galleries, both large and small. The rooms are full of character, and of course, full of art — as is Cambridge Street, the hotel’s multi-purpose dining venue featuring a café, a cocktail cellar, a club room, and a terrace.
Good Hotel London
London, UK
This is a London hotel that redefines waterfront real estate: Good Hotel literally floats on an inlet of the River Thames. Built in the Netherlands and then transported via barge across the North Sea to the Royal Victoria Docks, it’s now accessible via an easy trip from Central London. As you might expect, the rooms are compact, but they’re cleverly arranged, with the modern, minimalistic design you’d expect from a team of top-notch Dutch designers.
Henrietta Hotel London
London, UK
The Experimental Cocktail Club has bars by that name in Paris, New York, and London, as well as a couple of excellent Parisian boutique hotels and some highly regarded London restaurants. And now they’ve added the Henrietta Hotel & its restaurant Henri to their portfolio. The hotel has reimagined two Covent Garden townhouses, one of which used to be the home of Victor Gollancz Ltd., publisher of George Orwell and John Le Carré.
The Standard London
London, UK
Brutalist architecture isn’t for everyone, but thankfully, it’s not going away anytime soon. Take the old Seventies-era Camden Town Hall Annexe, for example, which has lived long enough to evolve from an architectural pariah into something precious. After a number of developers came close to demolishing it, the Standard hotel group saw a bit of their own aesthetic reflected in its orderly Modernist geometry and transformed it into The Standard London.
The Portobello Hotel
London, UK
Not too long ago modern minimalism in boutique hotels was all the rage, and the Portobello Hotel was looking out of step — London’s original rock & roll hotel was showing its age, and its eclectic, bohemian style looked like something of a relic. Today, not only is the Portobello’s brand of highly textured romance very much back in fashion, but the hotel itself has seen an impressive restoration, and you can well imagine it’ll be adding to its long list of slightly risqué tales.
Beaverbrook Town House
London, UK
Beaverbrook Town House is the city sibling of a Surrey hotel that was once the home of newspaper baron, government minister, and society bigwig Lord Beaverbrook. As a result, it’s packed with inter-war glamour and vivid colors, thanks to designer Nicola Harding, who we imagine watches Wes Anderson films for their gritty realism. Another of its inspirations is Japan, which is a welcome curveball, and a third is the theater; each room is styled and named after celebrated London stages.
Mama Shelter London – Shoreditch
London, UK
Hackney Road, between Shoreditch and Bethnal Green, is the perfect site for the affordable, accessible, youth-focused Mama Shelter London Shoreditch. Behind a somewhat minimalist exterior is a hotel that’s overflowing with visual interest, inspired not only by mid-century modernism but by the Seventies and Eighties as well. Certain Mama Shelter signatures like superhero masks are present here, as well as a pair of private karaoke rooms.
L’oscar
London, UK
If you’re the literary type, you might be won over by the prospect of a hotel inspired by Oscar Wilde, the ultimate non-traditionalist — and if interior design is your medium, you may be more thrilled at the prospect of Jacques Garcia’s first London hotel. L’oscar begins with a landmark Baroque-style Baptist church, but where it truly impresses is with its decadent vision of London that Wilde surely would have preferred to the Victorian one in which he lived.
Mark Fedeli is the hotel marketing and editorial director for Tablet and Michelin Guide. He’s been with Tablet since 2006, and he thinks you should subscribe to our newsletter.