My good friend (and most excellent travel companion — you’ll be hearing more about her in a couple weeks) Alison sent me a web clipping this morning about a newish hotel in London called the Rough Luxe Hotel in Kings Cross and I’m dying to stay there. This place looks fabulous with only nine rooms, but each artfully (and quirkily decorated), which accounts for the luxe. The Kings Cross location gives it the rough edge; it used to be something of a red-light district, but it has cleaned itself up recently, sort of like Times Square in NY. The hotel looks to be part of something called the Rough Luxe Network, an affiliation of hotels, shops, and restaurants around the world, including Shakespeare & Company, the very famous bookshop that I plan to visit when I’m in Paris next month.
What might be iffy for Americans are the shared baths with some of the rooms; it’s first come/first served for the en suite baths, but I was pleased to read in the Guardian review linked to Alison’s clipping that the rooms with shared baths are usually reserved by families or people traveling together who don’t mind sharing. Whew! Other cool amenities: afternoon tea served between 3:30 and 5:30 p.m., a contemporary art gallery on site (love the “This is Shit” painting — click on the Imagery link to see), and wi-fi in the rooms.
This could be a very cool, distinctive place to stay next time you’re in London — I know I’ve got it on my list. With rooms starting at £135 per night (roughly $202 USD), it’s not cheap, but it’s comparable to what you’d spend at a mid-rate hotel with lots less charm in the tourist havens.
Contact: Rough Luxe Hotel, 1 Birkenhead Street, London, WC1H 8BA. Tel: +44 (0)20 7837 5338 Fax: +44 (0)20 7837 1615 e-mail: reservations@roughluxe.co.uk
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What a strange concept for a hotel.
I love it!