Town Hall Hotel

Located in Bethnal Green, Town Hall Hotel lies a short distance eastward of London’s traditional hospitality centers — a slight remove which, depending on your feelings about the touristic thrum of London’s traditional hospitality centers, may very well count as a merit. Bethnal Green these days, of course, has plenty to recommend it, and one shudders at the thought of what a night at Town Hall might cost were it located in the West End. A fifteen-minute Tube ride from central London is the non-pecuniary price you pay for rooms that are spacious, apartments that are downright sprawling, and services — not just a spa but an indoor pool as well — that would set you back thousands at the center of the city.

The interiors are spacious enough that the Town Hall is free to embrace a certain spare and minimal contemporary style, the sort of thing that could come off a bit like a space capsule if these rooms weren’t so generously sized. At this size (and inside this historic neoclassical building) the effect is stylish rather than stark. And while Bethnal Green is somewhat peripheral, it’s certainly no suburb — there’s no shortage of city culture here, including more than a few fine restaurants. One of them, Da Terra, the recipient of two Michelin stars, happens to be on premises, along with the stylish Silk Weaver Bar and a second restaurant called Elis. If it’s your first time in London, or if you’re here for the museums and theatre, then perhaps this location isn’t your very first choice — but with a little local knowledge, or just the confidence to explore, Town Hall becomes a very viable option.

How to get there: Town Hall Hotel & Apartments is a 6-minute walk from the Bethnal Green tube station.