The Standard London

Brutalist architecture is back in a big way — good news for London, which is practically swimming in the stuff. The old Seventies-era Camden Town Hall Annexe, just opposite St Pancras Station in King’s Cross, has lived long enough to evolve from an architectural pariah into something precious. After a number of developers came close to demolishing it, in swooped the Standard hotel group, who rightly saw a bit of their own aesthetic reflected in its orderly Modernist geometry. The Standard, London is the brand’s first outside of America, and it’s a perfect fit for this newly hip North London neighborhood.

The colorful interiors provide maximum contrast with the monochrome façade, and they’re notable for their period inspiration, if not their historical correctness — with their space-age lines and their saturated secondary colors they’re an homage to the utopian currents of Seventies modernism. The rooms are instantly memorable, recalling a familiar era but avoiding all the mid-century clichés. And at the high end you’ll find unexpected luxuries, like private terraces with outdoor bathtubs.

Meanwhile, in typical Standard style, the Standard, London’s public spaces are no less noteworthy than its bedrooms. Decimo, the flagship restaurant, serves what may be London’s finest Mexican fare under the direction of chef Peter Sanchez-Iglesias. Sweeties combines creative spirits and DJ sets in a space that’s part cocktail bar and part discotheque. And the Rooftop, for its part, is just what it sounds like — an open-air lounge with a 360-degree view of North London.