Town Hall Hotel

London – East End

London, with its more than 7 million inhabitants, is one of the world’s most cosmopolitan cities. As the former capital of the world’s largest colonial empire, its population includes more than 50 nationalities with about 300 different languages spoken. This city of numerous villages, each with its own identity, is an immense multi-cultural patchwork that vibrates with activity both day and night.

In the East End, Shoreditch, which includes Spitalfields and Whitechapel where Jack the Ripper stalked his victims in the 19th century, has become one of London’s trendiest quarters. This quarter, which in the early 20^th century, was filled with slaughterhouses, cheap restaurants, bordellos and small, seedy, ill reputed streets, was devastated during World War II.

Almost totally abandoned 20 years ago, this working class neighborhood began to attract artists of all kinds. Graffiti specialists, designers and photographers came here seeking inspiration in its lower depths. Art galleries opened in former brick warehouses, vintage shops replaced the slaughterhouses and design cafes invaded the quarter.

Vintage and trendy

In the East End, at Bethnal Green, we find one of the most stunning hotels in London: the Town Hall. Located, as its name indicates, in a former town hall built in 1910, the building was purchased in 2007 by the Loh Peng Singapore hotel group, and underwent a radical renovation which transformed it into a trendy and vintage five star hotel.

The Parisian Rare Architecture agency, in charge of the project, preserved the Edwardian stone façade with its statues and overhangs. It also preserved the various extensions added on to the building over the years, although they were redesigned with an Art deco style metal façade.

The contrast between the classic style building and the ornate metal cover is striking. In the huge and cold lobby, the inspiration is Art deco as well. Made essentially of white and green marble, it includes a number of period elements like the large marble staircase in the center and contemporary works by young London artists commissioned by the hotel.

Consisting of suites, studios and apartments, the hotel has 98 rooms, all furnished differently, but decorated in the same contemporary style with pure lines inspired by the Scandinavian design style of the 1950s.

In all the rooms, the decorative Edwardian or Art deco moldings and the original marble floors have been preserved, providing a stunning contrast with the glass partitions, and the ultra contemporary furniture. The glass limits the spaces without separating them, since the bathroom space and the sleeping area are often raised.

The Town Hall’s most luxurious suite, the De Montfort, is located in a room where municipal meetings used to be held. Its 220 square meter surface is unique in London. Split into different levels, the suite combines functionality, luxury and some off the wall details. Its immense canopy bed and its Corian bathroom give the suite a spectacular sense of luxury.

There are two restaurants on the ground floor: a small brasserie, TheCorner Room, which combines elements from the cinematic past of the site, and the very chic Michelin starred Viajante, whose intimate bar is always crowded. Sober and totally design, they are both furnished with rare objects and silicon chandeliers. All the meals prepared by Chef Nuno Mendes in his open kitchen are inspired by travel. A “surprise menu” enables guests to try between 6 and 12 dishes, blindly for the simple pleasure of the palate.

The white marble swimming pool in the basement is magnificently lit by natural light, which highlights the surrounding mosaics and causes the brass decorations spread throughout the space to scintillate.

In this idyllic environment, it’s easy for guests to forget that they are in one of the city’s working class neighborhoods. All that counts is that they are in the real London, and in one of its most creative quarters.

The building was selected as a film setting on a number of occasions.