Some hotels, you walk in and you could be anywhere. Literally anywhere in the world. Not so nhow London. Oh, nho siree. Whether it’s the huge artwork of Big Ben taking off like a rocket, the piped BritRock, the jackets by Alexander McQueen (who had a studio nearby) hanging over reception or the multiple punk-versions of portraits of the Queen, there’s no doubt where you are. And if there is, the flashing sign reading ‘London Reloaded’ should give you a nudge in the right direction.
Set on the City Road, with the bright lights of Shoreditch a short walk that way and the village-y atmosphere of The Angel a short walk the other and Sadlers Wells just round the corner, this may once have seemed like a strange place to locate a pretty big hotel, but not now that east London is the only place to be. Add to that the fact you can get into the West End within half an hour and it almost couldn’t be better.
Upstairs in the suite, once you’ve walked along a highly theatrical Shining-like corridor with multi-coloured front doors complete with knockers, the London theme continues: wallpaper that looks like it could have come from a pub, the Queen spray-painted on the wall, and furniture that is modern, fresh, fun. In fact, ‘fun’ is probably the word that featured most prominently on the designers’ mood-board for this hotel, a diffusion branch of Spain’s huge NH chain that goes from top-swank five-star to business accommodation.
But it’s downstairs, once this Covid nonsense is over, that the real fun is going to go on. Designed along party-hotel lines (think the W in Leicester Square), the huge space is splashed with neon, crammed with mismatched furniture with screens showing everything from miners’ strikes to rock concerts.
Under current circumstances, you’ll find the odd person who has nipped in to use the space to tap away at their laptop, Carrie Bradshaw-style but you can just imagine what it’s going to be like on a regular Friday night when it’s packed with locals and guests tucking into food from a chef imported from a Michelin-star restaurant in Amsterdam and getting those classic cocktails down their necks (who knew a Cosmo would still taste so good?) before heading off to Shoreditch for a classic Big Night Out, with capital letters and everything.
Got a dog? (Other pets are available, especially if they’re cats.) nhow London has just launched its ‘Pet Friendly Stays‘ where your pooch or kitty will be treated like a king/queen, you get your own very special pet suite, and they get goodies. Nice, right?
