As I began to write this hotel review I realised that I’d talked about the London Edition before; a rather extensive (completely fantastical) post about the story behind the creepy portraits that hang in every guest room. You can read that post here: The Woman In The Wall, but to precis, I said that I although I generally loved the hotel room (“it was like a very posh woodland cabin. A sauna without heat and naked people”), the painting made me very afraid.

I quote from my previous post;

“Who in their right mind puts a painting of a creepy woman in a hat above the end of a bed? Are the designers at The Edition completely and utterly mad? What interiors trainee was allowed to run beserk with the artwork, putting it in places that would one hundred percent guarantee a bad night’s sleep? For who can lull themselves into a peaceful slumber when there’s a disembodied head, wearing what looks like a cap made from tin foil, gazing discontentedly down from the wall?”

My feelings about the Woman In The Wall (honestly, just read the original post and catch up) haven’t changed but I do feel as though I want to give The London Edition a proper write-up. It’s a fine hotel and one of the few that I’d specifically ask for, if someone else was paying and they had a generous budget. It’s posh but not stuffy, the rooms are quiet (not like the ones at The Sanderson, where the management seem to think that 3.30am is an acceptable time for music in the courtyard that can be heard in a third floor room THROUGH INDUSTRIAL EARPLUGS) and the bar and restaurant downstairs are a real treat. (The food in the restaurant – Berners Tavern – is excellent whatever the time of day. As is room service. (I’ve tried it all, virtually.)

Anyway, back to the safe haven of the bedrooms and can we just take a minute to observe the styling? It’s so cool. Not cool in that all-white, clinical sort of way (looking at you again Sanderson! We’re not friends after that 3.30am episode, not friends at all); it’s cool in a cosy, warm, expensive sort of way. Dark wood. Lots of mood lighting. Natural light from the huge, full-length windows filtered through gauzey curtains, very retro soft porn in effect. (I’m told.)

Choice bits of furniture, lovely layered textures and contrasting eras – and the wonderful bedside lights pictured below. I love the thinking-outside-the-box going on with these huge, moon-like globes; they’re suspended from the ceiling so that they seem to float in space. So dramatic, so clever.

But what else do you get for your money? (My stays have ranged in price from around £400 to £500, but it depends on the room type and day of the week. It’s around the same price mark as the Sanderson, I’d say, so it’s definitely a splashing-out sort of experience, unless you’re expensing it!)

Well, let’s see. Quiet room – we’ve covered that – excellent room service, fast WiFi, great location (smack bang in the centre of London, just above Oxford Street), incredibly comfy bed, stylish furnishings. I particularly like the fur blanket on the bed, which makes me feel like I might get ravished at any moment by a rancher returning from a busy day at the ranch. Doing ranching…stuff.

Not that any of those things are unique to The Edition (apart from maybe the furry throw, which I try not to touch because I’m not sure whether those things are washable) but I suppose you pay for location, stylishness and being in the “place to be seen”. I’m never particularly bothered about being seen in the right places (where even are the right places?) but it is something of a boon to be able to nip down for dinner in an exemplary restaurant.

And I always have an amazing sleep here, for some reason – even with Madame Creepy McCreepsville hung on the wall. I try to drape a scarf over the picture, but it always slides off in the night. Which is even more terrifying, when you think of it…

Anyway, I wanted to get this review out of the way before I embarked on my much more difficult task of rating the best hotels in London that are at the £250 kind of mark. I’ve been trying to find cool or quirky places with quiet rooms in nice areas that would count as a treat but won’t break the bank. Too much. £250 seems like an acceptable amount to spend for something over and above the norm, in a good location –  somewhere that’s perfect for those who travel a lot for work and don’t have a huge budget but demand some level of sophistication when it comes to their lodgings… Give me your recommendations please so that I can test them out!

You can book rooms at The Edition here.

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