Mondrian London Shoreditch

For some time now the site of development and innovation in London — not to mention nightlife and culture — has been concentrated in the east, specifically Shoreditch, the creative district just to the north and east of the City’s financial center. It’s the ideal place for a hotel like the Mondrian London Shoreditch, a brick-clad industrial-style building whose interiors, thoroughly redesigned by the Clerkenwell-based design studio Goddard Littlefair, are a perfect picture of high-end boutique hotel design in the third decade of the 21st century.

In a scene this competitive, of course, design is only enough to get you admitted to the conversation. The Mondrian backs up its visual appeal with substantial comforts; rooms come with heaping king beds and unique artworks, bathrooms come equipped with steam rain showers, and some of the higher-end rooms and suites add outdoor terraces.

Like many of London’s best hotels, the Mondrian is also a members’ club, which is a way of ensuring that locals are motivated to mix with hotel guests as they frequent the same common spaces. Here, those common spaces include some big names: Michelin-starred chef Dani García’s BiBo Shoreditch is is a classic Spanish tapas restaurant, his first venture in London, and Christina’s, the all-day café and cocktail bar, is a vibrant and stylish meeting space. Best of all, though, might be the rooftop lounge, Altitude, access to which is limited to club members only — which, of course, includes hotel guests for the duration of their stay.