Whilst planning our trip to London, we wanted to experience different parts of the city so we decided to stay in two different hotels. The first choice was on the south bank of the Thames and slightly more east i called The Hoxton. This beautiful hotel also hosts two restaurants, a co-working space, and a small art gallery attached to the co-working space.

We arrived around 9:00 am London time after departing JFK the night before. On the hotel website, there is a spot to be able to request an early check-in and it allows you to put in a time. Thinking that our transit from Heathrow to the South Bank area would maybe take about an hour due to it being in the morning and allowing for rush hour traffic, 10:00 am seemed like it would be a good estimate. However, once we arrived, we were told that our early check-in could not be accommodated due to the hotel being sold out the night before. That was not communicated to us prior to our physical arrival and they said they would not be able to check us in until the normal check-in time, which is 2:00 pm. After flying all night and being en route for almost 24 hours, both of us were quite tired but we had the front desk take our suitcases and we went upstairs to the co-working space to wait.

Something that was nice to have and we took advantage of was being able to mobile order food from Albie, the restaurant on the main floor, and having it delivered to our table. Let’s just say, we were very tired, so several flat whites and espressos were ordered.

There are 5 different room types available that all have the same hipster/modern vibe. Our room was the Cosy, which had a queen bed, bathroom with shower stall, built-in closet with some hanging space and shelving, a console table under the TV and a table and chairs by the window (pictured above). From 180-225 sq feet, this is the perfect room if you are traveling by yourself or with one other adult. Our room faced north and the window overlooked the courtyard of the small stone church that was next door to the hotel which created a very peaceful environment, especially that first day when it poured rain the entire day. The bathroom has their BLANK toiletry products, which both of us used and they smelled amazing. These items are also available for purchase down in the main reception area.

When booking the hotel, we used B’s Platinum AMEX card and since The Hoxton is in their Fine Hotel Collection, we received a $100 credit to use at the hotel between the restaurants and room service. Definitely took advantage of that and enjoyed two delicious dinners at Albie, which is the restaurant in the lobby of the hotel. The menu changes seasonally and the specials in November all included in season mushroom dishes, so we tried the tacos pictured above which were UH-MAY-ZING. So good in fact that I ordered them the next night as well. Also amazing is their buratta salad, which was sold out the first night but I was able to snag it the second night.

Besides the snafu with check-in, we really liked our stay here. The location is awesome, very close to the City of London, The Tower of London (which was maybe a 15-20 minute walk?) and Borough Market, which we went to on Thursday morning prior to checking out and heading to our second hotel. Also closely are the TATE Modern, the Globe, and the London Eye. Southwark Tube station is several blocks south and it is also easy to cross the River Thames going north to Blackfriars. The rooms are great, priced well, and the restaurant exceeded my expectations. The Hoxton is definitely worth looking into, especially if you don’t need a big room or are traveling solo.