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What more could you want from a Central London hotel than a buzzing, easy-to-reach location with a quiet, comfy place to rest your head at night? Firmdale’s casual-but-captivating Soho stay will have you breathlessly following up that question with all of its boastworthy elements: responsive service, a dependable restaurant, a full-blown cinema in the basement, a serve-yourself bar and, because it bears repeating, a luxurious retreat steps from a bustling block. Its fantastically playful interiors may leave the biggest impression on you, and with two or three rooms down for a redesign at any given time, you just may find a new favourite room during your next stay – because you surely will want to return.
What are the rooms like at Soho Hotel?
There are 96 bedrooms here, and I’d gladly poke my head in every single one of them since no two rooms are alike; they’ve all been uniquely crafted and personally approved by interior designer Kit Kemp. The look is exceptional. On the tasteful edge of maximalist, these rooms aren’t afraid of color or pattern, with beautifully embroidered headboards and pillows plus eye-catchingly upholstered walls. I was hosted in the sprawling Soho Suite, and if you do have the means to book a fifth-floor room with a terrace, I encourage you to go for it (and live out your voyeuristic dreams of staying in Monica’s apartment from Friends). But I was also able to visit a more standard-sized room, and these are just as well-appointed and surprisingly spacious (with the same impossibly squishy comforters). Though the chatter of Soho buzzes outside at all hours, the rooms stay perfectly quiet, and the lobby’s alleyway location keeps things relatively low-key.
What is the food like at Soho Hotel?
Ground-floor restaurant Refuel is vying for your attention in a packed nightlife area, and while its name may not hook you, its dinner menu should. Portions are surprisingly generous, and maybe it was just my then-looming cold, but a few spoonfuls of the celeriac velouté gave me life. At the very least, stop in for breakfast (included with a £60-per-night room upgrade) or a cocktail; the Nine Regions menu matches a tipple to each corner of England, and the North West, with its mix of vodka, tea and a biscuit, was divine. If your cravings hit at odd hours, there’s always room service or the in-room mini bar’s selection of for-purchase snacks. But the real winner is the ground floor’s honor bar, where you can grab a cookie, borrow a board game or mix your own cocktail and just jot down what you took.
What’s the service like at Soho Hotel?
Across a week of hotel hopping in London, the Soho Hotel stood out as my stay with by far the friendliest service. The staff was always warm and willing to help out, whether with my bags or to call a cab – without crossing over into overly-doting territory. In fact, given the surprising number of amenities wedged into the building, I was grateful that the staff was always eager to call attention to some other on-site perk that I might have otherwise overlooked.
What are the facilities like at Soho Hotel?
The full supply of liquor inside the honor bar really deserves a second mention here. You’ll find it behind a key-carded door in the ground floor’s drawing room, where you’re invited to sink into a sofa or play a game of chess surrounded by yet more superbly eclectic decor. Down in the basement, event spaces join an incredibly well-appointed gym plus two screening rooms – and not just some big-screen TV with Netflix on loop, but genuine 45 and 100-seat cinemas that screen recent releases and host occasional director Q&As.
What’s the area like around Soho Hotel?
The hotel itself is situated along a relaxed alleyway, but step onto Dean Street and things quickly become busy and boisterous. You’re smack in the centre of Soho, London’s historic, hallowed nightlife neighbourhood that these days leans a bit more polished than edgy. Soho Theatre sits right across the street if you’re after comedy and cabaret, as does the public-facing restaurant of storied bohemian members’ club Quo Vadis. It’s a less than five-minute walk to the Tottenham Court Road station on the tube, and the Elizabeth Line will take you over to Heathrow from there in just over a half hour. With a little bit of walking and a tube transfer or two, you’re never more than a half hour from any of Central London’s major attractions, and within a 15-minute walk from the British Museum or the theaters of the West End.
Why should you book a stay at Soho Hotel?
A superbly designed, quiet-and-comfortable hideaway within arm’s length of some of London’s most storied nightlife offerings sounds like it’s too good to be true – but I assure you that the Soho Hotel is the real deal. Outside of the middle of winter, the pricing does push well into luxury territory. But if you can budget for a stay at this warm and whimsical hotel, you absolutely should.
DETAILS
Address: 4 Richmond Mews, London W1D 3DH
Expect to pay: Rooms start around £450 a night
Closest transport: The Tottenham Court Road tube station is a five-minute walk, and Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square are a couple of minutes farther
Book now: Click here
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