BACKGROUND
The Great Northern Hotel certainly has pedigree. It originally opened in 1854 and reopened after a closure of more than ten years and £42 million refurbishment in the Spring of 2013, this time as a boutique luxury hotel (for the news report, click here).
The hotel is in a long curve and was originally designed by the famous Victorian civil engineer Lewis Cubitt (brother of architect Thomas Cubitt).
WHAT'S IT LIKE?
Gorgeous to look at front the outside, the elegant white capitals spelling out the name of the hotel – it’s almost a shame to arrive by rail and come in without seeing the frontage.
There are a number of ways into the property, including an entrance from the concourse of Kings Cross direct into the bar, but use the door next to the taxi rank (facing Kings Cross St Pancras).
The hotel is a little like the Tardis, since you can walk around the outside of it in less than a minute, but once inside it’s quite easy to get lost.
To take one example, on entering the hotel you turn right to reception, or left to access the lifts directly (these take you up to the first floor restaurant, and also the room floors, though you need a room card to access the room corridors). Turn right and you are in the small hotel reception which is at the south end of the building. There are a couple of chairs and a small, ticket-office-like desk where you check-in, then you climb a few stairs, drop down a few more stairs, and find your way back to the lifts which access the room floors.
WHERE IS IT?
On Pancras Road in Kings Cross – great for transport connections, particularly to the north of England via both Kings Cross and Kings Cross St Pancras, and of course Europe via Eurostar, but also the Piccadilly Line taking your right down to Heathrow or Victoria Line to Victoria and then via the Gatwick Express to Gatwick.
The area has seen massive redevelopment, and is much improved though this is continuing – Google will be moving in nearby in 2015, along with BNP Paribas.
ROOM FACILITIES
There are three room types — Couchettes, Cubitt Rooms and Wainscot on the top, sixth floor. The room corridors are lovely and wide and show the curve of the building very clearly. At the end of each corridor is a pantry with a coffee machine, kettle, Tea Pigs tea, snacks (including a lovely cake) and newspapers and magazines.
All rooms have Nespresso coffee machines, tea and coffee-making facilities, power showers, Lefroy-Brooks bathrooms with black slate floors, and Malin & Goetz toiletries. Most impressive is the way the rooms are acoustically-lined, with secondary glazing. Cubitt rooms have a banquette sofa / seat in one corner with a small work table and a couple of plugs on the wall to power devices while Wainscott and Couchettes have a small table for working at.
One of the challenges of renovating the Grade II-listed hotel is that many of the room sizes were small and some were not en suite. The elegant solution to this comes in the form of the Couchette rooms (21 of these) are small (15sqm) and have curtains and blinds operated by a switch since you’d have to stand on the Queen size Hypnos bed to get to them).
Small but perfectly appointed just about sums them up. Space is tight, so wardrobe space is limited (though I imagine a typical stay here is similar to an airport hotel), but by the door a large panel of leather provides the backing for a hanger on which you can hang your coat, with the wardrobe being big enough for shirts and trousers.
All rooms have Loewe LCD flat screen HDTV television as well as a complimentary wifi and entertainment package including movies – you might think you’ve seen all the films you need on long-haul flights but it’s great watching them on a large high quality screen, and I took the opportunity to watch one that is never on-board – Flight, starring Denzel Washington.
The Cubitt Rooms are 25sqm (51 of these) have a King-sized Hypnos bed, all with shower, though eight have standalone roll top bath-tubs with a handheld shower. All are in Farrow and Ball Olive green colours, with station lamps on the bedside tables, which are shaped like Victorian vanity cases.
Lastly the Wainscot rooms are 22sqm (19 of these) , which take their name from their dark American walnut panelling are on the top, 6th floor, and are painted in a Farrow and Ball Pelt colour, with a small shuttered window in the roof. These are very romantic rooms (some come with a double shower).
RESTAURANTS AND BARS
The main bar on the ground floor which is accessible from the platform during the day (but by the main hotel door in the evening) has a long central pewter bar, two bespoke chandeliers, black American walnut flooring and elegant bar furniture. At one end is an original wrought iron staircase take you up either to the restaurant or the mezzanine level of the bar (a small room good for private drinks).
Another staircase at the other end of the building leads up to the restaurant Plum and Spilt Milk (the name comes from the colours of the old Pullman Dining Cars), overseen by Mark Sargeant.
It has its own small bar, though a dozen people in it would make it crowded so we went straight through to the restaurant which was superb – great food and service, British food but done with real panache, especially since it is obviously cooked a couple of floors below and then whisked up by dumb waiter to be finished off in a small open kitchen in the dining room.
The location has the advantage of views over the front of Kings Cross, which has been considerably beautified in the recent work on the area though I’d still prefer that view in the evening with the bright lights of the new station gleaming. For a full review, click here.
BUSINESS AND MEETING FACILITIES
None really, though you can reserve the mezzanine floor of the bar for drinks, or part of the restaurant.
VERDICT
I was bowled over by the Great Northern. The building is lovely, the renovation just right, the interior decoration elegant without being fussy, and free wifi and great acoustic sound proofing along with a bar (actually two bars) and a superb restaurant – I couldn’t find a fault.
FACT FILE
- HOW MANY ROOMS? 91 rooms, in three different categories: Couchette (21), Cubitt (51) and Wainscot (19). None are large, ranging in size from 15sqm to 25sqm but all are very well designed and seem larger courtesy of the mirrors, classy pain colours and lovely Lefroy-Brooks bathrooms
- HIGHLIGHTS free wifi, free in-room entertainment including moves, and great sound proofing
- PRICE Internet rates for a midweek stay in January start from £229 including taxes for a Couchette Room
- CONTACT Pancras Road, London N1C 4TB; tel +44 (0)20 3388 0800; gnhlondon.com
Tom Otley
