Nobu Hotel London Shoreditch, London, England, UK
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Our 3 nights/4 days stay experiences in July/August 2017
My fiancé and I discussed which hotel to take for our stay end of July/beginning of August 2017 in London, this was dependend upon purpose, availability/budget and location of our visit. There were three choices: a budget hotel in Shepherds Bush, an upscale hotel in Camden or a brand new luxury hotel in Shoreditch. The budget hotel we’ve stayed earlier in the year, the upscale hotel had the right location for one of our full days, which included lunch at The Portland, a visit to the British Museum and dinner at The Ninth.
On the other side we could connect relatively easy by Tube to all the places we wanted to go to, when staying in Shoreditch, so it was a memorable call to try the newly opened Nobu Hotel, which we have followed since hearing about plans it was going to be built a few years back, it offers 150 rooms/suites with a design and feel which cinnects certain elements of Asia, especially Japan with the heritage and surroundings of London Shoreditch connocted in a beautiful 5-star environment. When it opened on 1st of July 2017 it was the only Nobu Hotel in Europe.[More Nobu Hotels are planned worldwide incl. Ibiza and others in Europe].
We used their opening offer. It included a reduction of 40 % on the overnight rate and breakfast. Having stayed there now we both believe it is worth to pay full price as we liked the style of the hotel as awhole, it’s like a breath of fresh air for a new generation of luxury hotels in London.
We contacted the hotel before our stay via e-mail to request a Deluxe Room (entrance category room) on the higher floors and the in room dining menu. We inquired what the breakfast inclusion meant too.
A friendly reply arrived soon afterwards. We were advised the highest floor we could have was the third floor. If we wanted to have a higher floor we would have to upgrade to an Executive Room. The breakfast included was the Nobu style “Full English”. We were a bit concerned, because normally we don’t like a traditional full English breakfast. More about that later. The menu was also attached.
Finally it was time to fly. It was one of the busiest weekends of the year in travel terms, so our flight was delayed by an hour, which had a knock on effect to our plans later on the same day.
We were glad we had decided to buy a Gatwick Express ticket in first class, which made the journey into the city much faster and more comfortable. From Victoria train station we connected to the Tube. Getting off at Old Street Station we had difficulties finding the hotel at first, because the area isn’t built in a grid system. Shoreditch is one of the oldest parts of London.
After searching for about ten minutes in heavy rain we finally found the Nobu Hotel. It is located on Willow Street, which is a side street and very small. The Hoxton Hotel is just opposite. The Nobu takes the whole block and the facade is understated Japanese.
We felt immediately well and I liked especially the little gardens to each side of the entrance.
Reception was straight ahead, while the lounge was to the left.
Check in was friendly and efficient, as expected.
We were accompanied to our room and some features were explained to us, but there were also some secrets left to explore ourselves.
The Deluxe Room was on the 3rd floor as we had requested. It had views over the side alley which gave us a good reminder about our location.
The color scheme was gold, red, brown, grey, black and white, plus it worked well together.
There was a small hallway with the bathroom to the left.
The room felt large, even so it was “only” 22 m2.
The style was a combination of Japanese cool and Shoreditch chic.
The floor to ceiling windows had two shoji screens; one for the day, which let in limited light and provided some privacy and a black out screen with a print typical for Shoreditch.
The air conditioning worked fast [cold] and was easy to use. The complimentary WI-FI was fast and reliable throughout the hotel at any time during our stay.
There was a beautiful king sized bed, a swiveable arm chair in one corner and a 55-inch flat screen TV.
The flat screen was hidden in a gold colored Japanese credenza and offered a whole range of regional and international channels, including the whole line up of Sky Sports, CNN, BBC World News, CNBC and Bloomberg.
In the compartments of the lower part of the credenza were the minibar and the tea set – no coffee making facility.
The mini bar contained interesting items, like Nobu Sake, Double Dutch Tonic Water (the classic version and one with water melon and cucumber), Sangre de Vida Tequila, which is shaped like a skull, still Fiji and sparkling Voss water, Hendricks Gin, a half bottle of Veuve Clicquot Champagne, Pocky from Japan and Valrhona chocolate. There were also a phone charger, intimacy and emergency kits for sale and many more items.
The prices were easy to remember, because they were for the same group of items equal, so for the non-alcoholic drinks and snacks it was 4 GBP (ca. 4.55 Euro/ca. 5.20 USD), the alcoholic beverages 9 GBP (ca. 10.20 Euro/ca. 11.65 USD), the Champagne 30 GBP (ca. 33.90 Euro/38.70 USD) and the kits started from 15 GBP (ca. 16.95 Euro/19.35 USD).
The traditional tea set was from Kyoto and the tea was by Ikaati – the flavors were Royal Breakfast, soothe Herbal and Jasmine Song Premium Green Tea.
There was also a set of glasses for diverse drinks, coasters and recipes to make cocktails on your room with the contents of the minibar.
Even the compartments of the credenza were interesting.
For example the part that was hiding the TV contained a small mirror and all the drawers were red lacquered and had prints inspired by silk weavers and birds inside them.
The headboard of the bed was intricate too. It was extended and felt beautiful, it covered not just the bed with purpose, it was a design/quality statement at the same time. The design remembered us of Bottega Veneta’s intricate leather work.
On both sides of the bed were outlets for electronic devices.
The globe shaped lamps were suspended via orange rope from the concrete ceiling, which gave it an industrial feel and reminded us a bit about the Inntel Hotels Art in Eindhoven, which is set a former Philips light bulb factory in which we steayed in Sep. 2016.
The seating area was cleverly designed. It could be also used as storage unit. There was a bench with the luggage rack and a large drawer underneath it, and a chair.
On the round wooden table, which reminded me of a tree or a mushroom, was a copy of the 24 hours in room dining menu, which was comprehensive, the menu functioned also as the Nobu Hotel guest magazine, plus there was a typed welcome letter reminding us that there could still some building works to be heard and that not all Nobu Hotel offerings are open yet incl. their fitness and wellness facilities/Spa.
The room was carpeted and grey with colorful stripes, which reminded us about Asian design sensibilities, especially Japanese design.
The shoji screens continued along the hallway, hiding two wardrobes and the bathroom door as well as one side where the seating area was.
There was limited storage space in the wardrobes. One drawer contained the safe. It was easy to use and there was no risk of the safe door falling suddenly down due to the design of the safe.
A full sized mirror was provided too.
The light was dimmable.
Turn down service was provided every evening with two small bottles of Fiji water and Japanese slippers [especially for her/him versions] inclusive.
The room was comfortable and we liked spending time there, even though we were very busy.
The bed and black out curtain allowed for restful sleep.
The bathroom was large and reminded us about the one we had at Das Stue in Berlin. It was completely white overall with some gold accents.
The material used was unpolished granite for the floors, stone and tiles. The gold sink and tap were a nice contrast to the dominating white.
There was of course a toilet and a large shower with a step up and a hanger to one side. The shower head was large and white too.
Water temperature and pressure were good.
A window with orange glass was located in the shower. It wasn’t see through, but shadows could be seen, so this room type might be not suitable, if you aren’t a couple or close family members. Using the light during the night in the bathroom could also disturb the sleeping companion, but all this was very subtle and didn’t disturb us at all.
The bathroom amenities were by Natura Bisse Barcelona for Nobu Hotels with rosemary and white tea, which we loved.
Yukatas were provided [all Nobu branded and very soft] along with dental kits and other supplies.
As mentioned we had breakfast included at the Nobu Restaurant as part of our package/opening offer, the first one to do so. Some dishes were specifically created by Nobu Matsuhisa for this location.
The restaurant was located in the basement, but was double floor height and had massive floor to ceiling windows at the bar area with seating at the outdoor terrace. There was a pocket garden with Bonsai trees.
The bar contained many interesting Japanese Whiskeys and sakes.
The industrial and Japanese design continued throughout this fascinating space.
The maître d’ greeted us friendly and brought us to our table.
There were booths on both sides and tables in the middle.
We preferred the booths, because they provided privacy, while sitting on one occassion in the middle we felt a bit exposed.
Our waiter explained we could choose the Nobu Style “Full English” or if a lighter breakfast was preferred the Nobu Style “Continental”.
The “Full English” included green tea or coffee, orange juice, British and American bacon, Japanese style sausages, shiitake mushrooms, Japanese poached egg, crispy boudin noir (blood sausage), cherry tomatoes, adzuki beans with tomato jalapeno jam and Japanese buns.
We tried the full English with green tea on the first morning. It was delicious. The combination of all ingredients created an umami flavor. We liked especially the poached egg, the Japanese style sausages, the adzuki beans and Japanese buns. It was satisfying and left us definitely not hungry.
The second morning we had the continental, which looked like a piece of art. It consisted of exotic fruits, Nobu granola parfait and a green tea croissant. It gave us the option to try other a la carte items, which we paid for, and our dietary requirements could be easily accommodated.
We had the infamous Matcha Waffle and Chicken with smoked maple ponzu and pecan miso butter twice and also tried the Japanese Matcha flat muffin.
All the items we tried were of high quality, delightful, tasty and moreish.
If you haven’t breakfast included, the full English costs 16 GBP (ca. 18.10 Euro / ca. 20.65 USD),the continental 13 GBP( ca. 14.70 Euro / ca. 16.80 USD), the Matcha Waffle and Chicken 16 GBP (ca. 18.10 Euro / ca. 20.65 USD) and the Japanese Matcha flat muffin 3 GBP (ca. 3.40 Euro / ca. 3.90 USD).
There were signs that the hotel is still in soft opening. Some examples are here:
The spa and fitness center and some of the rooms were still under construction. We heard a bit of building site work in the mornings, but it didn’t influence us.
On our first evening we needed an umbrella, because we had a dinner reservation and it was still raining. I called the operator, inquiring about one. We were told housekeeping would deliver it to our room, only to receive a call a few minutes later being advised that we could request it from the doorman.
Shoe shine service was only available during the day, since housekeeping wasn’t available during the night, we hope they might find a suitable solution to solve this “problem” in the future.
The breakfast inclusions should be better explained. On our first morning we weren’t told that Matcha green tea wasn’t included and cost 6 GBP (ca. 6.80 Euro / ca. 7.80 USD) extra. The second morning we were asked if we wanted one, so since we thought it’s green tea too, it was included. When the bill arrived we queried the charges. We were okay with the explanation by the manager that the tea is rare and quite expensive and wanted to pay for it, since we had consumed it. He kindly took it offour bill.
Overall, it was surprising how smoothly the hotel ran after having opened only a month and given enough time the minor hiccups we encountered should have been worked out in due time.
The staff was friendly and personal. When we returned in the evenings, the gentleman, who checked us in had time for a chat and inquired how our days went and what we had done.
Check out arrived as always too soon and was equally friendly and efficient.
We loved our stay and would return again and we might try other room types offered in our future too. By the way, the suites offer balconies with views over their pocket garden which over time and good weather conditions will get “buzzy” IMHO. It’s a beautiful and fascinating hotel which bodes well coupled with their location in equally fascinating Shoreditch, one of the oldest parts in London which feels creative and innovative at the same time, it’s up and coming.
Please see:
Would we recommend this hotel to a friend? YES!
Would we want to stay with them in our future again? YES!Thank you and safe travels.
