The Londoner

At the door you are met by a well-dressed lobby with a stunning Moon installation by Andrew Rae along with works by Tim Walker, Tracey Emin, Idris Khan, Marc Quinn.. You get it, it’s a strong artwork game in here

Across Leicester Square, dodging tourists on a mission for M&M’s and Legos, you arrive at arguably the best named London hotel, The Londoner. Standing 8 floors tall, hiding 6 floors below ground and 350 rooms behind Ian Monroe's tiled façade, is a new phenomena — a "super boutique hotel"

A very personal welcome consisting of a bottle of white and polaroids of myself (!!) waited for me in the room. I must say that made me feel quite special, and a little afraid — the opera glasses + the view... Is to spy on the PM at the Parliament or is that a hint that someone is spying on me…?

What I look for in a hotel room is a high quality refuge, a space to reset and put life on pause. The Londoner's room does exactly that. Uncomplicated and chic, it is a breath of fresh air

The bathroom features not only glam tiles and a Hollywood mirror, in tune with Leicester Square movie premiers, but also some very admirable sustainable highlights. The water saving Hansgrohe shower head, Bette bathtub, which is 100% recyclable and extra shallow for saving water, in-room recycling bins and no miniatures or single use plastics! Hurray!

I spy with my little eye, a gorgeous view of Trafalgar Square under a brooding English sky. What is London without the rain anyways? A city too good to be true

Main area of the lobby is the Stage, a dusty pink extravaganza of a champagne bar serving breakfast, afternoon tea and aperitivo. On weekends there is a live band and...

If you sneak passed the band, you will find a secret, golden stairs leading up to The Residence, a guest only 24 hr open work room with games, complimentary drinks and snacks, and two more stunning bars, a Whiskey Room and marbled Y bar. The Londoner is an adult playground

On the bottom floor is The Retreat. A space offering a 12.5 meter pool, a hot hydro pool, steam room, sauna, therapy rooms for massage and acupuncture, a barbershop, hair & nail salon PLUS Refuel juice bar AND a state of the art gym that you can become a member of. Wow that was a long sentence!

I went to the gym, can’t prove me wrong there. This is just the yoga/ stretch/“I know what I'm doing” room. The rest of the space is a PT’s wet dream, every piece of body perfectioning machinery known to chiselled man

Whitcombs, one of three restaurants on the property, serving French Mediterranean, is a large restaurant, but with a clever layout, columns and curtained room separators, feels and sounds very intimate

The highlight was grilled lobster with Cognac, mustard, Gruyère and black truffle accompanied with layered potato chips and the wine! The sommelier impressed with an impeccable pairing giving us a little casual wine lowdown to boot

What a lovely stay this was! What lingers in the memory is the staff, happy to answer any silly question, really taking their time. And the umbrella you see hanging on the wall? It has a wooden duck head for handle that will make you dance in the London rain