On occasion I’m one of those people who gets smug about no longer living in London. I noticed it when I went for lunch with my Sister-in-Law recently; I started waxing lyrical about the low crime rates, big houses, affordable living costs and good schools out here. “And it’s only 30 minutes into Euston!!!” I exclaim. “Amazing!!!!”
I do adore living out here, it’s true. I have a house with a big garden for less than my old Shoreditch studio flat, I can afford a car and a gym membership and live within a 10 minute drive of one of the best schools in the county (that I didn’t have to fight to get my children into). The train service into the city is quick, regular and as long as you’re not travelling in peak times, relatively inexpensive.
But I still have to live with the fact I reside in Milton Keynes ;) It’s not the sexiest town in the country, that’s for sure. I can’t pop to Columbia Road flower market for my peonies at the weekend, our most exotic restaurant is probably Yo! Sushi and I don’t think we’ll see cold press coffee until 2020. Swings and roundabouts, swings and roundabouts.
Because I save all that money by living outside of the big smoke I like to think I’m able to splurge on a hotel for the times I do need to travel in and stay. And we know how much I like a nice hotel, am I right? So when my blog pal Alice offered me a spontaneous ticket to see Blur at Hyde Park a couple of weeks ago I thought it’s hotel time! and jumped on HotelTonight (a fab app for last minute hotel booking fans like me) to see what I could find.
Town Hall Bethnal Green Review
The Town Hall Hotel in Bethnal Green was available, a place I’ve wanted to try for a while. I swiftly booked it for £128 (rates on their website start at around £217) and checked in at the allotted time of 3pm.
I was offered an upgrade to one of their apartments upon arrival and if you know me at all you’ll know that ‘upgrade’ is one of my most favoured words. THANK YOU for unwittingly supporting the Town Hall Bethnal Green review, Mr Check-In!
My room was lovely – on the ground floor it consisted of an entrance hall with wardrobe, a kitchen, living space, bedroom and wet room/loo. It was packed to the rafters with beautiful features; huge windows, fireplaces (x 2), antique furniture and a beautiful muted colour scheme.
I sat down, made myself an espresso and got comfortable reading about the history of the beautiful Town Hall. Which I won’t ruin, you’ll just have to go and discover it for yourself ;) Basically it originally opened in 1910 and has been through many iterations (including a famous film location) before being saved from ruin and becoming the gorgeous hotel it is today.
The kitchen had absolutely everything you might need (and lots of things you probably won’t) so for those who stay for an extended period of time on business it is perfect to rustle up a bit of dinner or breakfast if you get tired of restaurant or room service dining.
The lounge area was lovely with a huge L-shaped sofa and big television. I obvs made good use of this and blasted out Kisstory while I was getting ready for Blur that evening.
On to the bathroom – it featured L’Occitane products (+1 point) and one of those dinner plate shower heads that releases so much water it makes you feel like you’re drowning. The glass loo and shower room were separated from the bathroom only by a white curtain so you’d have to make sure you knew whoever you were sharing with pretty darn well. Luckily me myself and I are pretty well-acquainted so we were happy.
The in-room facilities were good; I’m always disappointed by hotel hairdryers but this one did the job well. There were your standard bits and bobs – safe, umbrella, phone etc etc. Everything you might need.
The location is a bit out of the way but it’s a four minute walk to Bethnal Green tube station and from there you can get the Central Line straight into town. Bethnal Green has so much to do and see, too – it’s a real up-and-coming area for restaurants and bars, two of which are in the hotel itself.
And Blur, how were they? I hear you ask.
AMAZING. Damon Albarn does not get older, only better, and Song 2 will go down in history as a gig-going highlight for me. It rained the whole time and my £10 hotel umbrella was confiscated but it was SO worth it, especially for the Town Hall Bethnal Green review. I adored it and would happily stay again – even without the upgrade. It comes highly recommended as a place to stay if you need to be in the East London or Liverpool Street area.
The Town Hall Hotel, Patriot Square, London E2 9NF
This Town Hall Bethnal Green review post was written in 2015 and updated in 2018.
ah I’ve heard of this place and have it mentally bookmarked for my next london trip! amazing saving using that app and pretty jealous you got to see blur xx
This looks amazing! It is so stylish- I want to live there! I am currently coveting a grey corner sofa for our living room. Your night at Blur looked great too! :-) x
Sounds like a brilliant night – I love Blur! And that hotel room looks stunning. If it was me I’d probably just go there and sleep for a whole weekend. Bliss.
That’s a gorgeous floor! It reminds me of my Grandma and Grandad’s house. I am very sad to say I’ve never got an upgrade on anything before – is there a secret code or a particular nod and wink combo you have to give?
I have heard a fair bit about this hotel, it looks lovely. And love that you said swings and roundabouts in relation to MK- whenever we go there my husband always goes on about ‘why does one place NEED that many roundabouts!?’ ;)
Oh I NEED to check out this hotel. And I”m genuinely literally downloading the Hotel Tonight app, as I’m typing this….
This looks so amazing! Wouldn’t have had BG down for this type of hotel at all (weirdly there’s also a new lovely hotel down the road at Tulse Hill so it must be a new London thing to have hotels in random places. Or else all the obvious places are full of hotels already. I’ll stop rambling now). Sounds like such a good weekend x
What a gorgeous looking hotel, love that floor! And I can’t believe you had a kitchen in a hotel room!
I actually saw an add for this app on the underground this week and thought it looked really interesting and a good idea for a last min hotel booking. This hotel sounds great btw
Laura x
The hotel looks amazing and the app sounds great. I love a last minute hotel discount. Milton Keynes is a funny place, I used to live near it growing up and can remember going to the shopping centre every weekend and stopping at MAcdonalds on the way back. I would actually like to go back as an adult to see how my memories compare with reality, I have no idea what the rest of it is like though, I can just remember one of the streets being called something ‘boulevard’! x
that place looks really lovely, and so homey too! like everyone else i am loving the floor.
Ooh I love London stop overs and am often booking hotel rooms so this app seems great! Also how much fun did you have at Hyde Park?! A few of my friends went and said it was great! Love the flooring in the room x
What a gorgeous hotel find…well worth the splurge! I miss my event management days when I’d stay in London most weeks in some of the coolest hotels in town, but it was always nice coming back out to home. It’s good to have the best of both worlds xx
That looks like such a beautiful place to stay. And upgrade is one of my favourite words as well!