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 (GBP220.83), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
Set on Seymour Street, the Zetter Marylebone greets guests with an instantly homey lounge, inspired by the home of fictitious eccentric ‘wicked’ Uncle Seymour, where chocolate-brown leather seats, wine-hued oriental rugs and antique handicrafts are inspired by the collection in Sir John Sloane’s Museum. Bedrooms, too, are richly coloured, and the cocktails and afternoon tea served in Seymour’s Parlour are as sumptuous and imaginative as the decor.
11am. Earliest check-in, 3pm; both are flexible, subject to availability.
Prices
Double rooms from £265.00, including tax at 20 per cent.
More details
Rates generally exclude Continental breakfast, which is £15.50.
Also
Unfortunately there's limited access here for those with reduced mobility.
At the hotel
Lounge, umbrellas to borrow and free WiFi. In rooms: flatscreen TV, Marshall or Sonos speakers, tea- and coffee-making kit, minibar with pre-made cocktails, free bottled water, and the White Company bath products.
Our favourite rooms
One of the Deluxe Doubles overlooks a quiet mews street and has a palatial carved wooden bed and seriously high ceilings. On the top floor, Lear’s Loft comes complete with a private terrace and alfresco claw-footed bath tub that the exhibitionist in us adores – wicked Uncle Seymour’s influence, perhaps…
Packing tips
Deeply coloured and understatedly elegant pieces to wear and something by Oscar Wilde or DH Lawrence to read.
Also
The orderly architectural collection of friezes, busts and other Grand Tour trinkets are an homage to Sir John Soane’s Museum off Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Keep an eye open for nods to Uncle Seymour’s pet parrot in the decor, too.
Children
The hotel happily accepts children of all ages. Cots (free; suitable for under-twos) can be added to most rooms; the Junior Suite and Lear’s Loft also have a sofa-bed.
Overview
Although it’s more of an adult-geared stay, the hotel happily accepts children from the age of one to 12. There’s a special kids’ check-in with in-room balloons, pint-sized robes and books. Travel cots and cribs can be provided for the four years and younger set, and some of the rooms have sofa beds. The hotel also has baby listening monitors to borrow, should you want to nip downstairs for a bite to eat while your tiny Smith is sleeping. Although there’s no dedicated menu, ask nicely and the kitchen can whip up most small-palate favourites.
Sustainability efforts
In-room detection and double-glazed windows conserve electricity, an Eau de Vie filtration system cuts out bottled-water waste and everything that can be is recycled. The hotel aims to stick with locally sourced, organic and seasonal food, too.
Grab a table for two by the window to watch the passers-by, snag a by-the-fireplace sofa to really settle in, or make your way to an alcove seat for a side-by-side tête-à-tête.
Dress Code
Casual by day – think jeans, draped shawl cardigans and well-heeled boots – and jazzier by night. Take inspiration from the suspender-clad barmen and go all-out vintage, perhaps,or stick to simple designer sleek.
Hotel restaurant
Cockle-warming in the day and swinging in the evening, Seymour’s Parlour is a place in which you could spend some serious time. It's more a cocktail lounge than a restaurant, and the food is designed to go with the drinks; you’ll find mostly light bites, snacks and sharing platters on the ever-changing menu. Seymour's Parlour aims to be a locavore where possible, and the menu changes seasonally. And, be sure to take part in the most English of traditions, afternoon tea. Choose between Aunt Wilhelmina's tea with a selection of traditional finger sandwiches, and Uncle Seymour's with more substantial snacks like pea croquettes and truffled sausage rolls; both come with scones, jam and clotted cream, and a variety of cakes. Breakfast is also served there; try the lightly spicy potted eggs Benedict, or the indulgent maple-syrup--topped French toast. The coffee is sweet and smooth and not to be missed.
Hotel bar
There’s no delineation between bar and restaurant; Seymour’s Parlour is all one inviting cocktail lounge. But the bespoke ‘Z to A’ cocktail menu is certainly something of its own. Curated with 12 drinks, each handmade libation offers a spin on a classic, made with ingredients known for their neurological and sensory benefits. No 12 is an artichoke-infused twist on a bellini and No 6 freshens up the age-old cosmo with lime-infused tequila and cranberry cordial. Not one of those crowded standing-room joints, the cocktail lounge is table-service only and in high demand, with tables available in 90-minute slots.
Last orders
Breakfast is served daily from 8am to 10.30am. Closed on Sunday and Monday, Seymour’s Parlour starts dishing up at 4pm and pours its final drinks at 11pm (midnight on Friday and Saturday). Afternoon tea is also available Wednesday to Sunday, noon to 4pm.
Room service
The menu from Seymour’s Parlour is available to order to your room until 9.45pm.
The Zetter Marylebone is on a quiet lane, but only two streets from buzzing Oxford Street.
Planes
Heathrow Airport is 40 minutes’ drive from the hotel and Gatwick Airport is 90 minutes’ drive away; times can vary depending on London traffic. The hotel can arrange airport transfers, but they must be booked in advance.
Trains
The hotel can also arrange transfers, which usually take around 10 minutes from Paddington station, trains arrive there from Cardiff, Reading, Bristol, Bath, Oxford, Exeter and Heathrow Airport. Marble Arch and Bond Street tube stations are each about a five-minute walk.
Automobiles
Driving in London is maddening, slow and will incur a Congestion-Zone fee, and the hotel has no parking facilities. We wouldn’t recommend driving yourself, especially when taxis are so abundant.
Worth getting out of bed for
The hotel's Marylebone locale is wonderfully central and somehow still amazingly peaceful. Oxford Street is only two lanes away and Selfridges' flagship shop is practically on your doorstep; luckily there’s ample wardrobe space in the townhouse’s rooms. Walk a few minutes west and you’ll bump into sprawling Hyde Park. From there, it’s a pleasant stroll to wave to the King at Buckingham Palace. The super-central location and excellent transport links mean that all of London is easily accessible, so whether you’re after green space and views from Primrose Hill, tales of Elizabethan history at the Tower of London, or graffiti and trendy baked goods in the East End, nothings more than a half-hour journey from your inviting bed.
Local restaurants
To brunch like West London champions, make your way to the Montagu Kitchen on Sundays. The eggs are served with lobster hollandaise and smoked salmon, and Belgian waffles are topped with hand-whipped cream. For modern European food and wine pairings, head to 28º–50º Wine Workshop & Kitchen on Maddox Street, which also hosts wine-tasting events. The staff at 35 New Cavendish Street, a 10-minute walk away from the hotel, are unflaggingly pleasant; and the brasserie-style menu is extremely tempting. Arrive hungry: fat prawns, still tangy with sea salt, croque monsieur with a scandalous helping of gruyère, and a surprisingly elegant hundred-layer lasagna await.
Local cafés
At La Fromagerie they’re serious about their coffee: they serve Italian Le Piantagioni and the sweeter French Belleville Brûlerie. If tea’s more your speed, try the brews originating from Milly-la-Florêt or Robert Wilson's Sri Lankan estates. Workshop Coffee's Bond Street outpost has green-marble countertops and a rotating signature drink. And Fischer’s Viennese café is good for a leisurely kaffee-und-kuchen break.
Local bars
We’re a little bit enamoured with Pollen Street Social’s cocktail menu, created by Jason Atherton, the man behind Berners Tavern. Test your shaking-and-making skills with a molecular mixology masterclass at Purl, or simply settle into its speakeasy-styled lounge and sample all the artistic apéritifs you can handle. You’ll need the password to gain entry. For those who like their liquor undiluted, Cadenhead’s Whisky Shop holds guided tasting events.
As we walked into the Zetter, Marylebone, we felt like we were stepping back in time (but in the best possible way). Entering via the dimly lit, snug-like cocktail bar at the front of this unassuming Georgian townhouse, we immediately wanted to disregard all modern technology and cosy up on the low sofas, with one of the bartender's wildly imaginative drinks in our hands.
Being so close to bustling Oxford Street, I was dubious that we would be able to get a quiet night’s sleep, but during our stay there were no signs of revellers, clinking glasses or even our fellow guests – bliss. The hotel’s rooms are all impossibly chic, while retaining that old-school British cosiness that, frankly – in a world of pared-back Scandi chic and minimalism – we all want a bit more of: dark-wood antique beds, bold velvet chairs and traditional deep-pile carpets, the rooms are the ultimate in comfort. I was particularly pleased with the ample wardrobe space; my husband with the size of the shower (it’s the simple things that make all the difference).
The bathroom was spacious; the shower had the perfect pressure; the bed felt more expansive than its already generous size, and I never wanted to leave it. If anything, I was slightly disappointed that for what’s billed as a double room, the bed is comprised of two twins smushed together – but this in no way dampened our stay.
With its antique charm and quirky comforts, it's quite hard to believe this hotel is a stone’s throw away from the hustle and bustle of one of the busiest shopping streets in the world. I, for one, was ecstatic to be in such close proximity to Selfridges’ Food Hall, but for a bit of culture, the Wallace Collection is unmissable, housing works from Jan Steen to Rembrandt (favourites of mine). We were astounded that, as Londoners, we hadn’t visited before, but like the Zetter Marylebone, it’s one of London’s hidden gems.
A Continental breakfast is served at the hotel, as well as a decent snack menu (anywhere with Scotch eggs and sausage rolls on its menu is a winner with us), but if you need something more substantial, the Zetter’s location is as good as it gets for restaurants – we enjoyed an excellent roast from gastropub (and fellow Smith stay) the Grazing Goat just around the corner, and tapas plates at Donostia were all delicious – Basque cuisine with a really buzzing atmosphere is a winning combination. Wandering through the hotel, on the way back to our room, we realised it would’ve been criminal not to try one of the infamous cocktails from Seymour's Parlour. The bespoke menu (concocted by star mixologist Tony Conigliaro and super-chef Bruno Loubet), objets d’art and subdued atmosphere make you feel like you’re in a centuries-old private member’s club, and the Kubla Khan cocktails definitely made us feel sleepily content.
There’s something about Marylebone that makes you feel like a local, rather than one of the tourists joining the perennial queue outside Madame Tussauds close by. This part of the city has a village-y quality, and we felt incredibly smug popping to Marylebone High Street for brunch (well, one simply must when there’s a Daylesford café close by, and a pineapple-relish-slathered chorizo burger on offer at the Providores) and a spot of high-end shopping in Matches, Toast, Paul Smith… The usual rabble. It’s all just five minutes’ walk away from our new hideaway. For its lucky guests, this outpost of the Zetter Townhouse is more than a hotel, it's home for the nights you stay there, and the staff really make you feel that way, too. For us, it’s our new favourite London haunt.
