Mum’s gone to The Hoxton Hotel, London

The Hoxton has established itself as a chic place to stay in London; a choice for the cool and trendy looking for a reasonably priced bed for the night without compromising on style and comfort.

I only spent a night in this hotel, while staying over for the BritMums Live conference, so my impressions are based on a very quick stay.

Booking: A dream. Easy to book online and very efficient when discussing booking by telephone. I initially booked a double room at a cost of £129 per night. This was cheaper than a double room had been for the Premier Inn at Westminster a few months ago. Payment must be made up front but you can change the dates, if you pay a fee of £15. The biggest surprise for me was, a month after booking, I noticed a refund of £30 to my credit card from the hotel. I was puzzled but it seems the cost of that night had been reduced and they automatically gave me back the difference. Can’t imagine many hotels would do that. So the cost is now a very reasonable £99.

Location: In Shoreditch, near to the City of London and five minutes walk from Old Street underground station. The area immediately surrounding the hotel isn’t particularly striking, though I didn’t really explore too much.

Room: Larger than I had expected for central London. Comfortable bed, air-conditioning, a proper wardrobe, safe, tea and coffee making facilities. Loved the small fridge with a couple of complimentary bottles of water and half a pint of fresh milk. How refreshing not to have the extortionate mini-bar where you daren’t touch the bottles for fear of ‘buying’ them. There was free wi-fi throughout the hotel with no complicated password. Hoorah!
Bathroom was exceptionally clean with a proper-sized bar of Pears soap and a decent amount of fluffy white towels. Shower was easy to operate, hot and not caked in limescale.
I had a quiet room on the fourth floor, at the back of the hotel looking into the courtyard. I have heard from friends that some of the rooms were noisy, particularly above the bar area which can get very lively at night.

Breakfast: Included in the room price is a ‘lite Pret Breakfast’ consisting of orange juice, a granola yoghurt pot and a banana. This hit the spot very nicely as I knew I had pastries waiting for me at the conference. A more substantial breakfast can be taken in the Hoxton Grill.

Is it child-friendly? Although cots and extra beds are available, the hotel doesn’t really have an atmosphere ideal for families with small children; the music in the reception area in the evening, and the people spilling out onto the pavement, could be a bit unnerving. However parents of teens will gain brownie points for taking their kids somewhere that’s cool.

Customer Service: Excellent on the telephone, friendly and efficient on reception. No complaints.

Would I go again? The last time I stayed in London we chose a hotel within walking distance from the West End so we were able to do most of our sightseeing on foot. I did like that. But the Hoxton is certainly worth considering as it has really made the effort to provide customers with a much higher quality of hotel experience than the price would suggest. For that reason, it’s a hit with me.