London, United Kingdom

Dean Street Townhouse

Price per night from$270.26

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (GBP212.50), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Style

Art-house hideaway

Setting

Sociable, sexy Soho

Glamorous – yet remarkably cosy – Georgian stay Dean Street Townhouse is one of those Soho fixtures that has many a story to whisper from its walls. It was formerly home to King Charles II’s mistress Nell Gwyn and artist William Hogarth, and its upper floors housed the Gargoyle Club, a meeting of artists, socialites and intellectuals in spaces hung with Matisse and more. These days, as part of the Soho House group, it still draws a fascinating crowd, has important art (some by the YBAs) on the walls and inspires convivial chatter in its elegant British brasserie. And, if those scintillating nights go on till closing time, it’s a comfort knowing that chic cocooning rooms are just upstairs.

Please note, if you are not a Soho House member, to access this members-only property a 12-month Soho Friends membership will be added to your booking for £100. This membership covers one room a stay for the member and any additional rooms booked for their children under 18.

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Facilities

Photos Dean Street Townhouse facilities

Need to know

Rooms

39.

Check–Out

12 noon (but flexible – no later than 4pm and subject to a charge for each extra hour); check-in, from 3pm

Prices

Double rooms from £255.00, including tax at 20 per cent.

More details

Rates exclude à la carte breakfast.

Also

Rooms 18 and 36 have disabled access and bathrooms modified for wheelchair users.

At the hotel

Partnership with a local gym, free WiFi throughout. In rooms: flatscreen TV; Marshall Bluetooth speaker; hair straighteners; minibar; free tea, coffee and homemade biscuits; and Cowshed products in bathrooms.

Our favourite rooms

We love the Medium and Bigger rooms with freestanding bath tubs and grand king-size beds. Rooms at the back of the building on the fourth floor are the most peaceful, but night owls should opt for a room at the front – the Soho views will compensate for any nocturnal noise.

Spa

There’s no spa onsite, although those Cowshed bath products in your room will make you feel very pampered. And, the hotel has partnered with Gymbox in Covent Garden, just a 10-minute walk away.

Packing tips

Pack light – rooms are stocked with full-size Cowshed products and hair straighteners. Leave room in your case for Carnaby Street acquisitions.

Also

If you have purchased a Soho Friends membership through Mr & Mrs Smith within the past year, please call our travel team directly to book your Soho Friends member rates. Please note, existing Soho House members should book directly through Soho House.

Children

Children can stay, but this hotel is better suited to couples. An extra bed (£50 a night) or cot (£15 a night) can be added to certain rooms.

Sustainability efforts

It’s reassuring to know that Soho House are working to deliver an environmental impact strategy across their sites. With 2030 goals set to enhance and standardise recycling programmes and responsible food-waste management at every outpost of the member’s club globally. They also work with local suppliers selected for their like-minded responsibility. In the kitchen, there’s scrutiny around how Soho House sources coffee, cocoa and palm oil, as well as sustainable seafood and responsibly reared meat. Expect greater choice of meat-free dishes and seasonal ingredients whenever practical. Measures to assess Soho House’s carbon footprint and reduce emissions are ongoing.

Food and Drink

Photos Dean Street Townhouse food and drink

Top Table

Sit in the cosy dining area at the front, slightly tucked away from the main affair. Red vintage chairs and banquettes make for a stylish, romantic setting. And, there’s a smattering of tables out front for Soho people-watching – always a fun pastime.

Dress Code

Your latest Soho boutique buy. (A vintage frock with hip hosiery or mod-style polo shirt with Japanese denim will stand you in good stead.)

Hotel restaurant

There’s been a lot of buzz about the restaurant, a bold red, cream and chocolate space, peppered with British artworks by Emin, Hirst and others, and decorated with Georgian-style wallpaper, striking chandeliers, Persian rugs, and cocktail chairs, with a delightfully weathered wood floor and a fireplace (working, if needs be). Fare is of the simple, warming and hearty – largely British – sort, with mince and potatoes, smoked-haddock soufflé, pig-cheek and black cabbage, and roast chicken with sage stuffing and chipolatas; but, it’s seduced some of London’s pickiest food writers. Desserts are staunchly in the ‘nursery pud’ camp, too. Breakfast and the weekend brunch follow suit, with everything from egg and soldiers to crumpets, to kedgeree and Lorne sausage with tattie scones. And afternoon tea (served Monday to Saturday, from 2pm to 5pm), brings laden tiers to your table – we’re particularly fond of the G&T-infused-cucumber sandwiches, and adding a glass of champagne, of course.

Hotel bar

The bar shares space with the restaurant. Expect a sociable, upbeat atmosphere and a mix of media types, locals and celebrities dividing their time between people watching, cocktail sipping and delicious dining. The drinks list runs pleasingly long, with well-chosen wines, single malts and a surprisingly diverse tequila list. With regards to cocktails, we like the Tonico #2 with Pisco, gin, elderflower, lavender and prosecco; or the Side Lover with rye, gin, grapefruit and hibiscus syrup. But, the alcohol-free drinks are just as beautifully conceived.

Last orders

Dining runs from 7am to midnight, Monday to Thursday; till 1am on Friday; from 8am till 1am on Saturday; and 8am till 11pm on Sundays.

Room service

Room service is available during restaurant service hours, and choices are a trimmed-down version of the restaurant’s offerings.

Location

Photos Dean Street Townhouse location
Address
Dean Street Townhouse
69-71 Dean Street
London
W1D 3SE
United Kingdom

Dean Street Townhouse sits in the buzziest part of London's Soho.

Planes

London Heathrow is an hour’s drive from the hotel. Luton and Stansted are both just over an hour away, and Gatwick is around 90 minutes, depending on the city’s traffic.

Trains

Dean Street Townhouse is in the middle of Soho, with several Tube stations dotted around – the nearest is Tottenham Court Road (on the Central, Northern and Elizabeth lines), two minutes away. Leicester Square, on the Piccadilly line that goes to Heathrow, is a five-minute walk. The nearest overland stations are Charing Cross and Paddington, where the Heathrow Express pulls in.

Automobiles

The hotel's super-central setting makes bringing a car unwise; stick to your legs, buses and Tubes.

Worth getting out of bed for

You’re in the beating heart of London here, so you’ll be gainfully occupied no matter how long you’re staying for. Examine the artefacts at the British Museum, just a 10-minute walk from the hotel, then work your way round to the immense collection at the John Soane’s Museum, heading south to Somerset House and then finishing a loop at the National Gallery and Portrait Gallery. You’re close to the major shopping axis of Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street, with both Regent’s Street and quirky Carnaby Street close by – go splash some cash, and if you have enough left over, hit Liberty for luxe homewares and fabrics before taking an afternoon-tea breather in Art Deco Arthur’s Cafe. For suiting and booting, Savile Row is a couple streets away. And, as evening approaches, you’ll find yourself spoilt for choice – Covent Garden’s Theatreland is a short stroll away, the likes of the Soho Theatre and Ronnie Scott’s entertain in avant garde ways, and the Dominion and Shaftesbury theatres always have well-trodden boards. And, for music, the Royal Opera House always hits a high note. 

Local restaurants

Feast on classic French dishes at Soho House’s sister restaurant, Cafe Boheme, such as onion soup or snails with bacon and garlic, followed by Toulouse sausage or bavette with frites and dijonnaise. Sweet tooths should save room for the tarte tatin or crème brûlée. It’s close by, at 13 Old Compton Street and it’s open until 3am Friday and Saturday, should you be of a nocturnal bent. Chew on chorizo, croquetas and tortillas at the original outpost of Barrafina; make like a moth to the wry ‘sex-shop’ lights of Mexican eatery La Bodega Negra; and crowd into the historied French House for decadent dishes off Gallic handwritten menus and top wines. Hoppers has the silkiest Sri Lankan curries (and the best of its namesake dish in London); Jason Atherton’s Social Eating House uses produce of divine provenance in smart, sophisticated dishes; and Russian eatery Bob Bob Ricard is famed for its ‘press for champagne’ button gimmick, but stays serious on the food front – the lobster mac and cheese has generous hunks of the crustacean buried in it. 

Local cafés

Flat White on Berwick Street has long been loved for its flavourful artisan brews – if there’s anything you’ve ever been wondering about coffee-making, the baristas here can provide answers. And for a sweet treat to go with your cuppa, head to Cutter and Squidge for the gooiest of brownies, ‘biskies’ (a cake-cookie hybrid) and wodges of homemade sponge. 

Local bars

Another Soho House group winner, Kettner’s is worth a visit for its restaurant Clarence Tavern, where you’ll dine on delights such as tomato tonnato with Ortiz anchovies; spinach, nettle and ricotta dumplings swimming in sage butter; and hake in a crab broth. Dip into the dessert menu too, for beignets and a peach and brown butter tart, and hit up the fabulous champagne bar. Equally suited to a celebration dinner or an indulgent tea-break, it’s a mere ramble away. Otherwise, Soho’s bar scene is an unwieldy beast. You could sip speakeasy style at Cahoots, marvel at masterful mixology at Bar Termini, take tequila shots at El Camion, precariously perch on a basement stool with an espresso martini at the Soho Grind, or crank up the jukebox at Bradley’s Spanish Bar

Reviews

Photos Dean Street Townhouse reviews
Bridget Boseley

Anonymous review

By Bridget Boseley, Travelling telly exec

By the time I meet my Mr Smith amid the urban chaos of rush hour London we’re both weary from heat, diesel fumes, aggressive drivers and police sirens. Thankfully the healing peace of Dean Street Townhouse awaits us. Young, stylish and unobtrusively efficient staff ease us down a few gears at reception, while soothing lighting, scented candles and crystal chandeliers set the mood to maximum uplift. Walls are lined floor-to-ceiling with antiquated books and curvaceous renovated Georgian furniture, all echoing the heritage of this magnificent four-storey Palladian building. Everything also seems a total contrast with the madness of the world right outside.

To create such a sanctuary in Soho, historically London's most wild and bohemian neighbourhood, is an achievement in itself. In the 18th century, Hogarth caricatured the vices of the inhabitants of what would become the red-light district and, although it’s been cleaned up and revitalised since the sleazy swinging Sixties, there’s still something sexually charged and addictively outrageous about this part of central-as-it-comes London. There’s even a Sunset Strip club winking its eye from across the road.

A wonderful vestige of days gone by is the Townhouse’s lift. As we step inside, an intimate squeeze for three, a rough wooden floor takes us by surprise. We soon twig we’re following in the footsteps of greatness. Almost a hundred years ago an elevator would have taken members up to the hedonistic Gargoyle Club. Mr Smith assures me that the bare floorboards up there have been polished by the shuffling shoe leathers of cultural greats from Henri Matisse to Fred Astaire.

Referencing more recent pop history – my Mr Smith’s professional forte – he then links our rendezvous to the start of New Romantic movement. Peacock punks such as Boy George, Steve Strange and Spandau Ballet also started out in a venue here at number 69 Dean Street apparently, as did the famous Comedy Store. Oh, if walls could talk, what decadent tales these ones would tell.

This boutique bolt hole is an addition to the Soho House empire which is spreading fast from London to LA via Miami and Berlin. Here, 39 perfectly formed bedrooms promise various level of inner-city comfort, varying from ‘Tiny’, ideal for crash-and-burn overnighters, through to ‘Bigger’, aimed at more self-indulgent travellers and weekenders. Our Bigger room is beautifully light, surprisingly quiet, and strikes the perfect balance between original and contemporary design styles, enlisting hand-painted wallpaper, creamy wood-panelling, and a king-size bed designed for love-filled nights and deep sleeps in a soft-white sea of pillows. Vintage suitcases, elegant dressing gowns and a Roberts Radio have us feeling as though we’re straddling life’s simple luxuries past and present.

As for the charming bathing options at the Dean Street Townhouse – they are dramatically different to some I’ve known. (Believe me, there have been shockers. I recall a Jacuzzi bath that should have had Police Line Do Not Cross Tape across it as it spewed out a forensic history of all its previous occupants. A whirlpool of hair, skin and all other human-related scum it was more crime scene than home spa. The only likely connection to a cop show storyline though for this ensuite is likely to be when a director or star of a TV series makes this their abode of choice.)

Here, we not only have lashings of luxury but also the options of slow and speedy ablutions. Time-starved guests will love the chequered Italian bathroom with its mighty head-clearing, body-reviving rainforest shower. Mr Smith takes this option, aided by Bullock’s Bracing Body Wash, before heading out to meet old friends. Feeling less sociable and more sybaritic, I’m determined to wallow in such comforts, and I head for the large free-standing contemporary tub that stands centre-stage beneath the high bedroom windows.

Up to my neck in Cowshed bubbles, eating hand-made chocolates from Melt in Notting Hill, I bask in the shards of golden light peeking through the shutters wondering if this hotel reviewing lark can get any better? Honestly, you could easily stay in your room – or even just in this bath – for days and survive happily on room service’s chilled rice pudding with poached rhubarb. But in terms of bodily sustenance, everything you could ever need is out there, waiting, on Dean Street. Like sirens beckoning, I can hear the call of a fine curry at the Red Fort, a good old-fashioned English pint in the Crown & Two Chairmen and a Bloody Mary across the road at Quo Vadis.

Then again, with Townhouse’s own bar and restaurant as lively as anywhere in the evenings we surrender eventually to the pull of its hardwood floors and vintage armchairs, a dining room peopled with smart, sophisticated and artistic characters. The mood’s relaxed but upbeat, and the fresh English food is prepared with just the right amount of French influence, allowing us to enjoy our organic wild trout or monkfish with fennel fully aware that we’re very much at the heart of London life.

We sleep that night in a bed so king-sized that we feel tempted to hit the sack next time armed with a Maglite, and then we wake to face the world, refreshed and recharged. A pivotal location for so much, we are not sure which direction to head in first. This is the beating heart of London’s gay scene, with the shopping hubs of Oxford Street, Covent Garden and South Molton all within healthy walking distance. London’s theatreland is also a programme’s throw away on Shaftesbury Avenue, Drury Lane and Charing Cross Road. A 10-minute stroll gets us to the British Museum.

After an exhibition of Italian Renaissance drawings, what better than to return to our hip hideaway to indulge in a traditional English afternoon tea? For centuries this building has been a haven for artists from William Hogarth to Damien Hirst. Once a famous watering hole for Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon, it seems only appropriate that the hotel dining room doubles up as an extraordinary gallery of modern artists including Tracy Emin, Sir Peter Blake, Matt Collishaw and Fiona Banner. There’s even a Gavin Turk en route to the loos. Among the striking, specially commissioned works is Dan Hillier’s ‘Townhouse’, a depiction of a stag-headed, skull-faced gent complete with top hat, cigar and a bottle of liquor, in the passionate clutches of a naked lady of the night. It’s the perfect incarnation of after-hours Soho. Mr Smith wonders if he maybe passed them on his way back in last night.

If Dean Street’s older, more stately, sister Babington House attracts reclusive, romantic and poetic types with its deeply rustic Somerset charms, then the Townhouse plays the youthful role of sultry Soho girl about town. A magnet for bohemians, artists and media moths keen to be fired up by the creative energies that must ooze from these historic surroundings we look forward to recommending it as the ideal base for wild nights and enlightening days. Or a stopover for discreet deals and secret liaisons, perhaps… But for me? I'll just go back to spend a whole day in the bath.

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Price per night from $270.26