HotelChatter

Location, Locations, Location
First things first – Bermondsey Square itself is a brand new development. As well as the hotel, on one side of the square, there are flats, shops, and office buildings. Which, in theory is fine – it’s been a massive regeneration project. But when we visited a couple of weeks ago, there were still a lot of roadworks around the place – including some just outside the hotel.

While the square itself was finished and a picture of calm, the approach from Tower Bridge was a nightmare, with half the pavement dug up. So we were a little flustered on arrival. You’d be better off coming from London Bridge.

Public Spaces
The hotel itself has a sixties theme – the stairs, corridors and rooms have pictures of swinging London (taken now, but looking vintage), the public areas are properly kitsch, restaurant is called Alfie’s (after the film) and the girls who work there are dolled up in foxy little shift dresses (the guys have no such requirements, unfortunately – we’d have dug some flares and giant lapels). Great idea – but because it’s a brand new hotel, we couldn’t help feeling it was trying a little too hard. Especially because that theme ended when you hit the bedrooms.

Room Reaction
So here’s our main gripe. You’d expect the rooms to follow through the kitsch of the lobby, right? But they don’t. They’re very nice – the beds are comfy, the desks are massive, and the showers looked good (we can’t vouch for the water pressure, as we were asked not to try it on our tour, but the club rooms have shower heads the size of dinner plates).

They’ve also got an intriguing design for the workspace – instead of slotting the desk along the wall, they’ve brought it out into the middle of the room, against the back of the bed.

The object of this, they say, is to make working more fun, and give you a better view of the floor-to-ceiling windows. Which is true – but it did make the room feel a bit cramped. Whether or not you approve would depend on the amount of desk time you’re planning.

What We Liked
Big credit to the hotel for taking a leaf out of City Inn Westminster’s book and installing iMacs instead of TVs in the room – that’s a brilliant idea. And the blown up photos on the staircase are awesome, even though they had us wondering why the hotel had commissioned new “sixties-style” pics, rather than getting some originals.

There are four loft rooms too, which were occupied so we didn’t see them – but they sound pretty cool, with terraces, a view of the London skyline, and even a hot tub in one, Lucy. We liked the staff, too – the ladies on the front desk were as friendly as their dresses suggested.

What We Didn’t Like
The lobby design is ace, but we wish they’d have carried their convictions into the bedrooms, which were something of a damp squib in comparison. They’ve got everything you need, but have more of a business hotel vibe than somewhere you’d want to stay and take pictures of to make the folks back home jealous.

Bottom Line
The level of this place means you’d probably have no gripes if you stayed here (apart from if you tripped up on the roadworks on the way over, as we did), but you wouldn’t have a memorable stay, either. It’s very slick, but it doesn’t seem particularly heartfelt. Although it’s not bad pricewise (from £109 or $175 weekends, £139 or $223 weekdays, excluding breakfast), we’d shop around elsewhere for something that feels a little more special.