London, United Kingdom

The Bloomsbury

Price per night from$278.21

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 (GBP218.75), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Style

Literary decadence

Setting

Leafy, lively, luxe

A central London stay that’s smart in every sense of the word, The Bloomsbury hotel has both good looks and brains. It celebrates cerebral delights – loiter in the library a while, if you’re feeling literary – while showing off its elegant circa-1929 beauty both inside and out. With a darkly intimate drinking den tucked away indoors, a flower-adorned brunch-perfect terrace flanking the entrance and a bright and gilded restaurant stretching languidly along the length of the entire hotel, the Bloomsbury makes it easy to stay in. The first-class London location entices you to explore the cultured neighbourhood… but loitering in the lounge is equally enjoyable.

Smith Extra

Get this when you book through us:

A room upgrade (subject to availability) and either a cocktail or glass of champagne each in the Coral Room

Facilities

Photos The Bloomsbury facilities

Need to know

Rooms

In total, 153, including 12 suites.

Check–Out

Noon, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.

Prices

Double rooms from £262.50, including tax at 20 per cent.

More details

Rates don’t usually include breakfast (from £18.50 an adult).

Also

All public areas are wheelchair accessible, and there are six adapted guest rooms.

At the hotel

Library, gym, free WiFi throughout. In rooms: well-stocked minibars; free still and sparkling water, refreshed daily; free Nespresso coffee; tea-making kit.

Our favourite rooms

Opt for one of the Luxury Studio Suites for elegant parquet flooring, statement wallpaper by Colefax and an all-white-everything marble bathroom larger than the average London apartment. Warning: you might not want to leave.

Packing tips

Leave the guidebook at home: there’s plenty of local inspiration on hand, including weekly insider tours of the neighbourhood.

Also

Found yourself in the middle of a Bloomsbury Set-esque love triangle and need to a) destress and b) look your best? Beckon the massage therapist and aesthetician: in-room spa and beauty treatments are easily arranged.

Children

Welcome, but it's more of a grown-up stay.

Food and Drink

Photos The Bloomsbury food and drink

Top Table

Avid Instagrammer? Make a brunch-time beeline for the flower-wall backdrop of Dalloway Terrace’s upper level. Smooth operator? Slink into the green-velvet-strewn Bloomsbury Club Bar, where it’s deliciously dark day and night.

Dress Code

There's technically no need to don your fanciest finery… but you'd fit in with the decor. A little something vintage would be even better: go sweepingly architectural, perhaps, in tribute to Edwin Luytens, whose influence is everywhere.

Hotel restaurant

Dalloway Terrace adorns the front of the hotel, either side of the elegant steps to the entrance – join the chic brunch crowd to start your day, or try the lobster mac 'n' cheese at lunch. Indoors, the playfully grand Coral Room – all gold and pink – stretches the length of the hotel, offering a host of hideaway tables, velvet shell couches and see-and-be-seen bar stools, depending on your mood.

Hotel bar

If you’re in need of a nightcap, it’s no problem: the Bloomsbury Club Bar serves cocktails from 5pm to 1am. The seductively sumptuous spot is your dream haunt if you like your cocktails inspired by convoluted love lives: each drink's named for a member of the Bloomsbury Set. The menu's a web of dotted lines and dashes demarking their intimate connections, from celebrated marriages to society-scandalising flings, with the tagline: 'They lived in squares, they loved in triangles'.

Last orders

You can breakfast in the casual Bloomsbury Club Dining Room, from 6.30am to 10.30 during the week and 7am to 11.30am at weekends, or in the Coral Room or on Dalloway Terrace, both of which which open at 8am and close at midnight and 10.30pm respectively.

Location

Photos The Bloomsbury location
Address
The Bloomsbury
16-22 Great Russell St
London
WC1B 3NN
United Kingdom

The Bloomsbury’s in the heart of, believe it or not, Bloomsbury, in Central London.

Planes

If you’re coming from further afield, you might touch down at Heathrow, the UK’s largest airport; it’ll take the better part of an hour to reach the hotel by car, or longer via the Underground. Other options include London City Airport, Gatwick and Stansted.

Trains

Two of the metropolis’ busiest rail hubs are nearby: King’s Cross St Pancras, with trains to Paris as well as around the UK, and Waterloo.

Automobiles

Driving through London’s traffic-laden winding streets isn’t the most fun thing to do in town. Grab a black cab to let someone else watch the road while you relax in the back, or ditch the traffic altogether and join the locals on the tube (the London Underground), which is usually faster. If you do decide to drive, there’s nearby parking (£45 a day, or £30 with validation from the Bloomsbury).

Other

The Bloomsbury’s just a few minutes’ walk from several London Underground stations – Tottenham Court Road’s the closest. And black cabs are plentiful.

Worth getting out of bed for

There's plenty to stay in for: the choose-your-own-adventure pleasures of the three eating and imbibing options. Then there's the tranquil library, packed with first editions and vintage reads still bearing the stamp of the YWCA Central Club Library that once stood on the site; it's dedicated to Nobel laureate poet and one-time regular guest Seamus Heaney. Even just exploring the art adorning every wall, everywhere, could happily pass a few hours in the hotel, and there are even rumours that the original swimming pool, dating back to when the building started life as the YWCA, may make a reemergence in future, at which point we'll forgive you if you never cross back over the threshold after checking in. But for now, you're in an almost impossibly central spot with the best of London on your doorstep, so it's worth dragging yourself from the Bloomsbury's Art Deco delights at least occasionally.

Once you're out, may we suggest a game of Bloomsbury Group Blue Plaque Bingo? Start on Gordon Square, where the gang's first meetings were held in 1905, and head on to Fitzroy Square: keep your eyes peeled as you stroll the leafy side streets, note down whose former homes and hangouts you spot… then head back to the Bloomsbury Club bar and knock back their eponymous cocktails in tribute. Prefer to browse shelves instead of streets? Bloomsbury's bookshops are myriad. London Review Bookshop on Bury Place is the spot for serious readers (the café's good, too); Gay's the Word on Marchmont Street is the UK's oldest LGBT-specialist bookshop, and often hosts events; The School of Life's Bloomsbury outpost, also on Marchmont, will see you heading back to your hotel even happier than when you left. If you're a first-timer in London, the British Museum is a must-visit wonder, packed with ancient treasures from around the globe.

Local restaurants

Still hungry after brunch at Dalloway Terrace and lunch at the Coral Room? Dine in style: there are an impressive seven Michelin stars within a 10-minute stroll of the Bloomsbury (more if you're a speed walker), with the likes of Hakkasan Hanway Place and L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon practically on your doorstep. Hit similarly star-adorned Lima Fitzrovia on Rathbone Place for Peruvian dishes as jaw-droppingly beautiful as they are delicious: chez Virgilio Martinez Véliz and his team take the culinary arts to Van Gogh-like levels. Another Michelin favourite is Kitchen Table at Bubbledogs on Charlotte Street, the not-so-secret secret hot-dogs-and-champagne bolthole behind the no-bookings-taken main eatery (Kitchen Table does, thankfully, take reservations, so you can avoid the perma-queue out front).

Local bars

If you feel like a change of sipping scene, equally first-class cocktails await at a trio of neighbouring Smith favourites: Covent Garden HotelCharlotte Street Hotel and The Soho Hotel

Reviews

Photos The Bloomsbury reviews
Daisy Hoppen

Anonymous review

By Daisy Hoppen, Style counsel

We checked into the Bloomsbury on a hot and sticky Friday afternoon after work. The hotel is tucked down a quiet pedestrian side street and decorated in suitably effervescent style for its Bloomsbury setting: a colour palette of bright florals, mustard yellow, and forest green velvets contrasted with contemporary marble bathrooms and parquet wooden floors. There’s a definite spotlight on the lighting, too – from tiered tasselled ceiling lights to glass art deco frames, each room features a characterful selection.

The soothing interiors have the en vogue style of architect Edwin Lutyens in evidence everywhere – the swooping backs of wooden chairs, the curves of the wrought-iron bannisters. The living room even sports some eye-catching custom wallpaper by House of Hackney. 

The bedrooms are comfortable, colourful, cosy and feel a world away from the bustle of central London. Our staycation really begins, though, once Mr Smith and I settle in for a sizable breakfast the next morning – the buffet includes all manner of buttered sourdough breads, hot eggs, grilled tomatoes and miniature pastries, but you can also order fresh juices, smoothies and a host of favourites from the menu. 

After a leisurely refreshing shower, we made our way to Lamb’s Conduit Street, well known for its independent coffee and food shops, and niche fashion stores such as Universal Works, Folk and cult skincare brand Aesop (top tip: this particular outpost also offers 30-minute facials but be sure to book in advance). The Italian restaurant Ciao Bella is also a London insider’s go-to for delicious late-night pasta.

We then walked to the iconic Sir John Soane’s Museum. For those who are not familiar with the museum and house, it’s one of London’s most beautiful homes full of treasures, ancient and historical artefacts and paintings – and it’s free! If you time your visit well you can also gain access to see the additional hidden cabinets behind secret panels in the painting room. The gift shop has a well-informed selection of books on the house itself, as well as novelties and other books on design, architecture and wallpaper.

From here we made the pilgrimage to Dover Street Market – located towards the end of Haymarket and a must for anyone interested in fashion, stocking brands from the hyped Palace and Gosha, to Gucci, Celine and Comme des Garcons. The store also has one of the best jewellery selections in London, I opted for some beautiful Simone Rocha crystal hair slides and matching drop earrings. 

We’d booked in for an early dinner in the hotel’s highly Instagrammable Dalloway Restaurant. Its walls and ceilings have been decorated opulently with flowers and scene-setting lighting. The tiger prawns with harissa mayonnaise were a standout as was the grilled salmon with truffle and parmesan chips. An extensive wine list includes many organic British sparkling wines, as well as a delicious array of cocktails. The hotel’s high-ceilinged Coral Bar, where we retire for drinks, is beautifully decorated in vivid pinks, reds and oranges and dotted with large potted palms. 

For after-dinner entertainment, I recommend either going to the theatre or one of the area’s independent cinemas. A walk back through Soho is exhilarating but noisy – so when we reached our room, we ran a hot bubble bath and then flopped exhausted into bed. Full disclosure: we didn’t have to use any public transport or taxis over the entire course of the day and clocked up an impressive step count.

As for the beds, well, they’re incredibly comfortable with ample pillows and soft downy duvets. The room is lightly air conditioned so despite the heatwave outside we felt more than slightly smug. Our Sunday morning was spent reading the papers in bed and making use of the room’s well stocked coffee bar. 

Checking out and heading back to the reality of our home in East London, we felt that we’d managed to re-explore some of the area’s hidden treasures and learnt more about the incredible backstory of the building itself (each bedroom provides handy booklets on the history of the hotel and its origins of being a YWCA club). 

The Bloomsbury itself is – much like your own check-in here – a welcome arrival in a storied corner of London.

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Price per night from $278.21