With its prime Soho location and unique style, the intimate Charlotte Street Hotel feels more like a private townhome than a hotel.
Part of Tim and Kit Kemp’s Firmdale Collection of boutique hotels, the Forbes Travel Guide Recommended hotel has its own appealing design—a blend of vibrant colors, fabrics, textures and well-worn Oriental rugs—with an appealing all-day bar and restaurant just off the lobby that’s a favorite gathering spot for Central Londoners.
Beyond the first floor living room (with a chic honor bar stocked with plenty of bubbly and ingredients for mixing your own cocktails), there are guest rooms spread over five stories, each individually decorated (though some admittedly snug).
The 52-room hotel has a film theme, with a DVD library of hundreds of critics' picks, and the not-to-be-missed Friday and Sunday film club, during which films are screened in the underground cinema.
Part of Tim and Kit Kemp’s Firmdale Collection of boutique hotels, the Forbes Travel Guide Recommended hotel has its own appealing design—a blend of vibrant colors, fabrics, textures and well-worn Oriental rugs—with an appealing all-day bar and restaurant just off the lobby that’s a favorite gathering spot for Central Londoners.
Beyond the first floor living room (with a chic honor bar stocked with plenty of bubbly and ingredients for mixing your own cocktails), there are guest rooms spread over five stories, each individually decorated (though some admittedly snug).
The 52-room hotel has a film theme, with a DVD library of hundreds of critics' picks, and the not-to-be-missed Friday and Sunday film club, during which films are screened in the underground cinema.
Our Inspector's Highlights
• The hotel is located on—what else?—Charlotte Street in London’s Soho neighborhood, which means excellent restaurants are just a hop and a skip away and retail-haven Oxford Street is just a few blocks from the hotel’s doorstep.
• In this neighborhood, the hotel can’t help but attract media types who love to socialize. The lobby is a hive of activity.
• The hotel takes its homey quality seriously, furnishing with wide brown leather club chairs and a log-burning fireplace. Overstuffed sofas, armchairs and the honesty bar are provided in the library, encouraging guests to kick back and relax.
• In this neighborhood, the hotel can’t help but attract media types who love to socialize. The lobby is a hive of activity.
• The hotel takes its homey quality seriously, furnishing with wide brown leather club chairs and a log-burning fireplace. Overstuffed sofas, armchairs and the honesty bar are provided in the library, encouraging guests to kick back and relax.
Things to Know
• Charlotte Street Hotel is a film-centric hotel. Each room contains a DVD player and flat-screen, with an in-house library of hundreds of contemporary, foreign and family DVDs to borrow on a complimentary basis.
• The hotel also has a 67-seat screening room below the lobby, complete with red leather seats and a popular Sunday film club, which draws trendy types to the hotel from all over the city.
• Oscar, the hotel’s restaurant, is exceptionally popular with guests and locals alike. It is open for breakfast (with a full menu or a Continental buffet), lunch and dinner.
• The hotel also has a 67-seat screening room below the lobby, complete with red leather seats and a popular Sunday film club, which draws trendy types to the hotel from all over the city.
• Oscar, the hotel’s restaurant, is exceptionally popular with guests and locals alike. It is open for breakfast (with a full menu or a Continental buffet), lunch and dinner.
The Rooms
• The guest rooms at Charlotte Street Hotel feature a fresh and modern British design style by Kit Kemp, with charming cottage touches and unique color schemes between the rooms.
• The plush beds at Charlotte Street Hotel are inviting and dangerously comfortable, with 100 percent all-white cotton linens by Frette. Pillow-top mattresses are lofted high on a platform base featuring a quilted patterned valance.
• The bathrooms are furnished with British-brand Miller Harris bath amenities, while guests are presented with Templespa massage oil as a welcome gift and scented pillow spray as a turndown amenity.
• Flat-screen televisions and Bose sound docks offer a modern touch, while a cozy and quirky feel is maintained with painted wood-framed mirrors and artwork.
• The plush beds at Charlotte Street Hotel are inviting and dangerously comfortable, with 100 percent all-white cotton linens by Frette. Pillow-top mattresses are lofted high on a platform base featuring a quilted patterned valance.
• The bathrooms are furnished with British-brand Miller Harris bath amenities, while guests are presented with Templespa massage oil as a welcome gift and scented pillow spray as a turndown amenity.
• Flat-screen televisions and Bose sound docks offer a modern touch, while a cozy and quirky feel is maintained with painted wood-framed mirrors and artwork.
The Look
• The Kit Kemp interiors emphasizes an earthy, autumnal color scheme and an inviting collection of furnishings. Wood paneling and a combination of luscious textures like the taupe herringbone fabric coat the walls of the guest rooms.
• The hotel attributes its interior design cues from the Bloomsbury artists of the 1920s. Look for abstracts, paintings and murals by the likes of Roger Cecil, Vanessa Bell and Alexander Hollweg.
• A lovely space drenched in natural light, the drawing room at the back of the lobby includes eclectic décor and the all-day honesty bar with cakes and beverages, so guests can nosh and socialize at their own leisure.
• The five-story hotel is surrounded by buildings of equal or shorter height, meaning upper-floor rooms see plenty of light throughout the day—and best of all, the windows in the rooms really open to let in the fresh air.
• The hotel attributes its interior design cues from the Bloomsbury artists of the 1920s. Look for abstracts, paintings and murals by the likes of Roger Cecil, Vanessa Bell and Alexander Hollweg.
• A lovely space drenched in natural light, the drawing room at the back of the lobby includes eclectic décor and the all-day honesty bar with cakes and beverages, so guests can nosh and socialize at their own leisure.
• The five-story hotel is surrounded by buildings of equal or shorter height, meaning upper-floor rooms see plenty of light throughout the day—and best of all, the windows in the rooms really open to let in the fresh air.
Getting There
