First, the room: it was tiny. Literally “tiny”. That’s the way it was described on the website of this cool new hotel, created by the team behind the Soho House and Shoreditch House private members’ clubs and the Babington House hotel-club in Somerset.
But “tiny” cost only £109, and I really could not complain as I stepped into the squashed space up on the fourth floor of a lovely Georgian building (formerly a boring Pitcher & Piano) in the heart of Soho, Central London. I had a large double bed with a shower room on the side.
And that was about it — at least that was what I thought at first. Then I started noticing things. Tucked on the neat bedside tables was a Bose iPod docking station and a digital radio. I turned around and found a large Sony flatscreen TV, designed so that it was set into the wall, using minimum space. Below this was a well-stocked minibar in a tiny cabinet the width of an ironing board.
Near the door there was a small wardrobe with enough hangers for a night, and a pile of complimentary magazines (Marie Claire, Elle, Tatler). A couple of plush robes hung on a hook on the back of the door, and pairs of flip-flops were in white cotton bags on a shelf.
Meanwhile, the bathroom was stocked with a selection of fancy spa products, as well as useful extras such as Colgate toothpaste and Listerine mouthwash — in the event that you book the room at the last minute after a late (possibly drunken) night out in Soho and have not brought anything such as that with you.
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It may have felt like a granny flat, but it was a very clever granny flat, I decided. Well decorated, too, with butterscotch wallpaper dotted with white flowers, simple lights with magnolia shades, and matt carpeting.
In the restaurant on the ground floor I sat at a red leather banquette and tried to read the menu in the gloom (it really was very gloomy). I ordered the potted ham and wild rabbit piccalilli followed by chicken, bacon and leek pie — both of which were excellent (the food is overseen by the owners of the Ivy, J. Sheekey and Scott’s), coming to a modest £18.25 — and looked around the busy room.
Chatty groups of drinkers who looked like Soho media types sat at the American-style 12m bar, which was lit by mini desk lamps. Works by Tracey Emin and David Bailey lined the walls above our table. Reggae and funk emanated from hidden speakers, drifting into the gossipy darkness, where it seemed as though many a TV and film deal was being struck.
There are 39 rooms at Dean Street Townhouse, six of which are granny flats, while the rest cost from £125 to £295 for the biggest suite. I slept well in my tiny crashpad in the loft. All that I really wanted was a bed, and that was what I got . . . and at a very good price.
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Need to know
Dean Street Townhouse (020-7434 1775, deanstreettownhouse.com), 69 Dean Street, London W1D 3SE.
Room 9 out of 10
Food 8.5
Service 9
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Value 9
Score: 8.88