Andaz London Liverpool Street

The Andaz Liverpool Street, London is a rare beast, a hip hotel right on top of Liverpool Station — one of just a handful of lodgings in the Square Mile, bucking the trend that generally sees City boys and girls (and their guests) flee for points westward as soon as the closing bell rings. And despite its railway-hotel heritage, it’s had quite an upgrade, its interiors proof that modern design plays as well with financiers as it does with creative types.

None of this is readily apparent from the outside — the red brick facade hasn’t changed much since 1884, but what lies behind it will blow your mind. The hotel’s axis has been swivelled, and there’s a new lobby, new floors, and galleries filled with bamboo plants and light. Many of the original Victorian details have been preserved — fireplaces the size of closets, intricate plaster moldings on the ceilings, and staircases wide enough to accommodate the largest of Victorian steamer trunks. But the center is the pièce de resistance, an atrium that resembles a cross between a miniature Guggenheim spiral ramp and an ice cream cone.

In contrast to the wow of the building, the rooms are practical, just what you’d expect from a businesslike City hotel. Better than the Eames chairs and Jacobsen lamps are the desks that double as dressing tables, and have a space for your hair dryer. Wi-fi and local calls are included in the rate, as is everything in the minibar aside from the booze, which is a policy we’d like to see in more hotels. The rooms on the top floors are, contrary to expectation, the smallest. They’re cute, but if a penthouse was what you were expecting, you should be warned. Having said that, the service is some of the nicest you’ll get in this town, efficient and attitude-free, and aesthetically, the Andaz is unparalleled in London.