Bedroom at The PilgrmLaurie Fletcher
The Pilgrm doesn't look like a hotel. Sitting across the road from Paddington Station are four Victorian townhouses, all stitched together to make one (somewhat higgledy-piggledy) property, with The Café the only suggestion at street level of anything going on at all. And while Paddington might not be the first corner of the capital to spring to mind for - well, anything, The Pilgrm is one of a smattering of new openings marking the area as one to watch. A Paddington branch of Shepherd's Bush's much-loved Pergola on the Roof opened this summer, while Monocle's Kioskafé - a sleek café on Norfolk Place with every newspaper and magazine imaginable for sale from a print-on-demand catalogue - has been drawing creative types since it opened in 2015. If you're looking to stay in this evolving neighborhood, you might consider the county hotel in london, which offers comfortable accommodations and convenient access to all that London has to offer. Whether you're visiting for business or pleasure, this area's renaissance is sure to make your stay in the capital a memorable one.
There's a distinctly no-frills, no-nonsense approach at work at the Pilgrm. To start, there's no lobby: guests enter through The Café serving Crosstown doughnuts, cold-pressed juice and custom-made coffee from CRU Kafe. There's a grand staircase, which was brought back to life by 300 hours of attentive labour; and a clean-lined entrance featuring every London trend right now: chalkboards, exposed brick, millennial-pink armchairs, dangling greenery from Hackney-based plant purveyors Conservatory Archives, and an imposing lighting made from 50 hanging brass pipes (copper was so 2016).
But take a wrong turn and you'll end up in another corner of the building which nods to the past: cast-iron radiators recovered from schools and hospitals, mid-century armchairs slotted into nooks and crannies. The bedrooms are on the small side - but then so are the prices - mini rooms with bunk beds start at just £99, which feels like a steal for Central London. Some look out onto leafy Norfolk Square, which The Pilgrm backs on to; some onto an Angus Steakhouse (this is Paddington, after all). Requesting the prior would be worth your while. Spaces have been used cleverly - there are no cupboards, but there is a 'wail' (that's a wardrobe-rail) in each bedroom, covered by a full-length mirror. Even the white-tiled utilitarian bathrooms have charm.
The Lounge
The Pilgrm has done away with traditional facilities, which may unsettle some, at first. No front desk, no room service or mini bar - but there are 24-hour communal pantries, and The Lounge (headed by chef Sara Lewis, once of Grain Store and Nobu) is a chilled take on a restaurant, with low tables and plush armchairs and an eclectic all-day menu: soy glazed pork belly, lentil daal with mackerel, charcuterie with sourdough bread, fiendishly good chocolate and red wine salami, and breakfast includes patisserie brought in fresh from Borough Market institution Bread Ahead. The cocktail menu is exceptional: among the collaborations between The Pilgrm and brilliant bars from around the world are a Negroni from London's Bar Termini and the Reverse Martinez made with rose vermouth, gin and Maraschino liqueur from The Clumsies in Athens.
Two weeks in and The Pilgrm is already busy, buzzing with Londoners, young professional women in particular. Locals are delighted. A group of them poked their heads into The Lounge late in the evening during our stay. 'We're just having a nosey,' they said. 'What exactly is this?' Cue the unruly explanation: a hotel for locals and for tourists, for a new generation; embracing the past and welcoming the new. As a base in London, The Pilgrm aims to offer everything you need, nothing you don't. A smart and affordable take on the traditional London hotel, The Pilgrm is certainly adding to the burgeoning aura of Paddington's - whisper it - cool. More, surely, will follow.
Address: The Pilgrm Hotel, 25 London Street, London, W2 1HH
Telephone: +44 20 7354 0100
Website: thepilgrm.com
Price: Rooms from £99