The other day NECTAR & PULSE finally spent a night in the ROUGH LUXE HOTEL – A little bit of luxury in a rough part of London. A little bit of rough in a luxurious London.
WHAT WE LIKED MOST:
THE AUTHENTICITY > As the New York Times put it: “Many hotels claim to be original, but Rough Luxe actually is. Those wanting to be pampered need not apply. The emphasis here is on experience rather than indulgence.”
UNDERSTATEMENT > Almost hidden location in a row of Georgian town houses minutes from St. Pancras International Station (if you feel the urgent need for a baguette – Paris is just 2 hours 15 minutes away > Eurostar from St. Pancras).
SIZE > Small is beautiful & PERSONAL: Only 9 rooms each individually styled.
ATMOSPHERE > Quite industrial: like the interior of a guerrilla warehouse art gallery.
THE ROOMS > Are definitely on the small side – but you actually feel they are bigger due to smart photographs and paintings on the walls.
BATHROOM > Our bathroom (Room 5) had a giant photograph of an eccentrically dressed Philippe Starck posing against a bright orange wall. Rumors have it, it’s Philippe Starck’s private room when he happens to be in London. In any case we enjoyed the rainfall shower and the Arran Aromatics Mandarin-Mint body lotion.
BREAKFAST > There is one big table in the basement where the guests gather together. On the table you find everything you would probably want to eat (including Marmite). Nice to get to know and chat with the other guests – espcially since it is an open-end breakfast.
Staying at ROUGH LUXE HOTEL makes you basically feel like you are visiting your weird but wonderful British grandma, who once had a lot of money and a luxurious townhouse and now just doesn’t care so much anymore. – which makes the whole experience so damn charming.
Get yourself a GUIDE TO LONDON and enjoy the worn-down charme of ROUGH LUXE HOTEL.
Carina & Tanja
Rough Luxe Hotel, 1 Birkenhead Street, London WC1; 44-207-837-5338;
