Before the 19th century, if you wanted to stay the night in London, your choice was a gentlemen’s club, a lodging house or a coaching inn. Then came a little thing called the hotel, and people started getting sniffy about sleeping in the pub. Now, though, some of the classiest boozers in the capital have added stylish bedrooms above their barrooms, turning themselves into hip, friendly places to stay. They’re way more fun than a boring chain hotel — and a pint is just a flight of stairs away.
1 The Rose and Crown Stoke Newington, N16
Stoke Newington’s chichi Church Street has a Whole Foods Market, gourmet coffee shops, independent bakeries and a wine shop (Borough Wines) where you can fill your own carafe. Sitting at the end of the road, opposite Clissold Park, is the Rose and Crown, a proper neighbourhood pub with an open fire and menus scrawled on chalkboards. Head upstairs and you’ll find six bedrooms with calm colours, designer lamps and the occasional freestanding bath. Up another flight and you’re out onto the private roof terrace, which is reserved for guests.
Doubles from £110, B&B, 020 7923 3337, roseandcrownn16.co.uk
2 The Grazing Goat Marylebone, W1
The Grazing Goat’s breakfast of truffle and chive scrambled eggs with smoked salmon will be all the more enjoyable after a sound night’s sleep and a soak in a clawfoot tub. The pub is five minutes from Oxford Street and Selfridges — and, on your return to base, you can look forward to a pint of Topper or Capper from the Florence Brewery, in south London.
Doubles from £205; 020 7724 7243, thegrazinggoat.co.uk
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3 The Fox and Anchor Smithfield, EC1
The Fox and Anchor has all the best bits of a historic boozer, with a 21st-century beer list. So you can drink a pale ale from Western Australia, an Old Engine Oil porter from Scotland or a cider from Florida with your sausage and mash. Upstairs, crushed velvet, lattice windows and copper baths add a sense of tradition to the six bedrooms; Bose sound systems bring you back to the present day.
Doubles from £100; 020 7250 1300, foxandanchor.com
4 The Bull & the Hide Bishopsgate, EC2
Instead of the usual brewery, a winery is behind the Bull & the Hide — Hush Heath, in Kent. As a result, this City pub has a wine and spirits club, wine tastings and an array of English sparklers behind the bar. If you overindulge, any of the seven boutique rooms that are empty at closing time are sold off cheap, so you can enjoy soft grey textiles, Miller Harris toiletries and duck-feather duvets for £50 a night. Don’t worry — there’s a vanity kit in your room for the morning after.
Doubles (booked in advance) from £100, B&B, 020 7655 4805, thebulland thehide.com
5 The Orange Tree, Richmond, TW9
Good news for rugby fans: just in time for the autumn internationals, the Orange Tree, a traditional hang-out on Twickenham match days, has become a hotel, with 13 bedrooms sporting king-size beds and botanical-print wallpaper. For non-egg-chasers, there’s the Orange Tree Theatre next door and Kew Gardens round the corner — and, if you feel like whizzing into town, you’re a two-minute walk from Richmond station.
Doubles from £124, B&B, 020 8940 0944, orangetreerichmond.co.uk
6 The Malt House Fulham, SW6
The Malt House dates from 1729, but it’s not your typical old boozer. Inside, you’ll find panelled walls in pastel shades, distressed leather sofas and stripped wooden tables, on which dishes such as pork loin with roast shallot, crushed peas and mustard jus are served. The food’s so good, the pub has been named one of Time Out’s 50 best restaurants in London — stay the night and you’ll get 20% off your dinner bill. The six rooms have green wallpaper, king-size beds and toiletries by Penhaligon’s; there’s a secret garden out back and the Tube is round the corner.
Doubles from £135, B&B, 020 7084 6888, malthousefulham.co.uk
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7 The Tommyfield Kennington, SE11
Downstairs, the Tommyfield has exposed brickwork, leather booths and a menu that includes grilled lamb chops with couscous, roasted cherry tomatoes and tzatziki, and tea-smoked salmon niçoise — all of which can be miniaturised for kids. A whopping 50% off your meal is the reward for booking one of the six seriously funky rooms, which have pop-art prints and rainfall showers.
Doubles from £119; 020 7735 1061, thetommyfield.com
8 The Pilot Greenwich, SE10
Imagine how smug you’ll feel leaving the O2 after a show and strolling 10 minutes down the road to bed, while everyone else crushes onto public transport. The Pilot has hip rooms with design quirks such as barrel-shaped bedside tables and wallpaper with graphic prints, as well as a beer garden and a menu with stomach-rumbling gourmet fish-finger sandwiches and brûlée coffee parfaits. It’s also ideally positioned for the Royal Observatory, the Emirates Air Line cable car, the National Maritime Museum and that Beyoncé concert you’ve bagged tickets for.
Doubles from £70; 020 8858 5910, pilotgreenwich.co.uk
9 The Fox and Grapes Wimbledon, SW19
It’s a good thing the Fox and Grapes, on Wimbledon Common, has rooms, because after three courses from a menu overseen by Claude Bosi, who runs London’s two-Michelin-starred Hibiscus restaurant, as well as a few glasses from the Berry Bros & Rudd wine list, you’ll need to be able to roll into bed as soon as. The rooms — painted in elegant shades, with Nespresso machines and brightly decorated bathrooms — are named after the common’s most famous residents, the Wombles.
Doubles from £125; 020 8619 1300, foxandgrapeswimbledon. co.uk
10 The Windmill Clapham, SW4
Gazing at the view from the new rooms at the Windmill, you’ll almost feel you’ve relocated to an idyllic pub deep in the countryside. Nestled on the quiet side of Clapham Common, the pub is hidden away from the hurly-burly of the high street, but is only a few minutes’ walk from the best of Clapham’s bars and restaurants. Or you could just stay put within olive-green and schoolbook-blue walls, lounging on a Hypnos mattress and watching your huge flatscreen TV with Sky Sports, so you don’t even need to venture downstairs to catch the match.
Doubles from £129, B&B, 020 8673 4578, windmillclapham.co.uk