The Londoner Hotel
The Londoner Hotel, site visit date 22nd July 2022
Oh, my Lord what an hotel! The hotel opened in September 2021 after 10 years of building. The hotel has been many things before its transformation, including, I think if I remember right a Radisson back many moons ago.
Labelled as a boutique hotel in terms of guest experience, rather than size, it is a large hotel, but it does deliver a boutique feel. There are plenty of nooks and crannies to discover, tuck yourself into and to explore. With artwork a plenty at nearly every turn.
The Stage is Set
There are big nods throughout the hotel to its theatre land location on Leicester Square starting right at in the hotel’s main entrance lobby, The Stage which is a nod in itself but look at the walls, these are suede walls resembling stage curtains, more nods later on!
The lobby isn’t vast, large enough but with a feel of snugness to it that you find across the whole hotel. And there is a stage at the far end of the lobby with a Grand piano taking front and centre. There are live performances Thursday and Friday evenings, Saturday lunchtime and evening, Sunday mid-afternoon.
The Stage is all about champagne, with 35 different bottled offerings. Here you can start your day with a champagne breakfast, settle down to a champagne afternoon tea and by evening there is a champagne bar menu.
The Stage
the lounge at the londoner
Champagne, Gin and Live Music
To the front of the lobby, you can access Whitcomb’s, serving French Mediterranean cuisine, breakfast, lunch, pre- and post-theatre suppers and a la carte dinner. It also has a small summer terrace on Leicester Square.
Leading off the stage you will also find Joshua’s Tavern, inspired by Joshua Reynolds, an 18th century artist and former Leicester Square resident. Gin lovers will find a home here, but the tavern also serves draught beers accompanied by a lighter bites’ menu.
Live music Thursday to Saturday, 6.30pm – 9.30pm with a heated terrace on Leicester Square to extend those cooler summer nights outside.
Joshua’s Tavern can be hired exclusively for approximately x 50 maximum.
There are more dining experiences within the hotel, but I’ll mention more about those as we come across them on our tour of the hotel.
A Bit of Background
The hotel has a total of x 380 bedrooms. It stands 8 floors above ground and 8 floors below ground.
The lower floors are 30metres below ground, lower than both the Northern and Piccadilly tube lines. Originally the meeting spaces were all to have natural daylight and be on the top two floors, floors that were never built as, planning permission would not permit the design of the hotel to be built higher than Nelson’s Column.
Let’s have a run around the hotel’s lower floors and their meeting space.
The Skeleton!
8 floors above ground, 8 floors below ground
There is direct, street level access to the meeting space on Whitcomb Street with car parking directly opposite that entrance.
Straight to the Ballroom, I think!
The Ballroom
The Ballroom foyer is stunning. It can accommodate a maximum of x 250 for a drink’s reception. There are dedicated event space lifts, and it has its own cloakroom.
The Ballroom itself is 566 sqm with a ceiling height of 5.8m. There is obviously no natural daylight but the lighting is very cleverly done.
The way the room is lit gives the appearance of ceiling to half height walls with the upper level appearing to have closed curtains behind which natural daylight is showing just a peak through the gaps. Very, very clever and it really does give you the impression of daylight.
The Ballroom divides into two sections in less than 5 minutes and each side will hold x 216 cabaret style with 8 guests per table. There are four 5.5m wides screens across the whole Ballroom. There are 50 different moving lights and two kitchens to service the room.
For much more detailed information this link will take you to the Ballroom’s dedicated online brochure.
The Ballroom
Max x 708 delegates theatre style
The Green Room
Aptly named after the beautiful green marble floor. It is a beautiful space for entertaining, with a capacity of x 150 guests, but it can also host a meeting. The banquettes are fixed to the wall and cannot be removed but the rest of the furniture can be removed to allow space for 4 round of 10 each.
There is no built in AV but the Green Room does also have its own bar.
The Gallery
The Gallery is clever space. There are 7 meeting rooms leading off the Gallery Foyer area, each designed and named after an iconic London art institution. Each room has a TV screen for branding and signage and glass frontage.
What’s so clever about the Gallery is that the glass frontage that forms the meeting room behind it, is retractable as are the air walls that section the meeting rooms meaning that various combinations are possible including opening the whole space up as one room.
Royal Academy of Arts is the largest room, it holds 64 theatre style, 28 u-shaped and 24 boardroom style.
The Serpentine and Maddox both hold x 16 each boardroom style and each has a fixed table. The Serpentine and Hayward Gallery (34 theatre style maximum) both have a column in the room, but neither is intrusive.
The Tate Britain will hold x 30 theatre style, Somerset House and the National Gallery can hold x 20 theatre style each.
And there’s more …
The Londoner has partnered with the Odeon Cinema adjacent to the hotel and provides direct internal access to their screening rooms which can be booked for conferences and events also.
There are two screening rooms, a 168-seater cinema with luxury recliner seats and a second smaller screening room holding x 68 guests maximum.
The Green Room
Leisure time, relax in The Retreat
A floor of loveliness, head to toe pampering is more than a possibility. With a gentlemen’s barber, nails, hair, and beauty appointments all possible.
A work out in the hotel’s gym followed by a trip to the treatment rooms for that luxury massage or facial and then a sit by the pool on oversized loungers, cabanas, sauna, steam room and hydro pool. All in neutral, relaxing tones.
Open from 6.30am to 10pm at night.
More information on the Retreat, click here.
The Retreat at the Londoner
Accommodation
The Londoner has 380 bedrooms in total and 9 different categories. Access to the bedroom floors is, as you would expect, via lift and using a key card only.
The bedrooms have floor to ceiling windows that literally fully open or extend (but only by a tad) outwards and away from the wall. As soon as the window is opened the air conditioning cuts out.
There are more hints to theatre land with every bedroom having a quirky set of opera glasses. Quite cute!
Each bedroom has a Japanese smart toilet which I have to say scares me a bit. I think I’d want to read the manual first and I never read a manual.
Also, in each room you have a mini bar, Nespresso machine, steamer (not an iron) and a Dyson hair dryer.
There are no twin rooms in the hotel.
On the 7th floor there are two signature suites, one internally known as the Trafalgar Suite featuring a large, three-part painting depicting the Battle of Trafalgar.
When booking one of the hotel’s signature suites be sure to have a list of the guest’s tipples as the hotel like to provide a bespoke drinks trolley for each guests.
Bespoke Drinks trolley
Moving up to the 8th floor to another dining experience, 8 at the Londoner. Three rooftop spaces in the form of an Izakaya rooftop bar. Japanese inspired, maximum capacity is x 40 private hire in the Shima Garden, open from 5pm to 1am with a Shima Garden and retractable roof.
8 at the Londoner also has a rooftop terrace with wooden slats both to act as wind breakers and also as you move your eyes across the slats you see a snapshot of the views from the top of this building, a mini picture of London with each turn of your head.
Hidden within the hotel too is a courtyard, visible from the hotel’s bedroom corridors. This internal space has many uses including yoga classes.
There are so many aspects to this hotel!
We’re nearly there but not quite.
The Residence
Drawing Room
Next, we’re moving down a few floors from 8 at the Londoner to the Residence. An extension of your accommodation and only accessed by residents of the hotel, thus the name!
The Residence
This is a multi-use space. A Drawing Room for work or leisure, as an extension of your bedroom there are croissants and soft drinks available. By day a light airy space, not one open, vast area but with turns and twists, areas to work, areas to relax and read the paper, somewhere to sit and take a quiet call or zoom meeting!
By night the shutters close, the lights dim, and the Residence is another space where you can feel snug and cosy, away from the bustle and even take a trip into the Whiskey Room, an amazing, calming snug towards the back of the Residence.
Maximum x 14 guests.
Imagine a wall of glass lockers, each holding a whiskey bottle locked away and secure. If you’ve got deep pockets and you’re brave enough, close your eyes, turn 360o’s and point. Depending on which bottle you point to your whiskey sommelier will serve you a tipple ranging from £26 to an eye watering £3750 per measure. Enjoy!
The Whiskey Room
Mammoth Cave, Spring 1903
What a pleasure it was to visit this hotel.
Every corner was an experience.
A large hotel, a capable hotel, but one that offers surprise after surprise without feeling like you’re in a cavernous space, you do feel very much more like you’re having a boutique experience.
For more information or to check meeting availability contact us.
