If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (GBP193.60), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
The Zetter Clerkenwell may look like an antique shop on entering, but it's actually a laid-back luxury hotel, with dramatic shabby-chic decor by designer Russell Sage and a cocktail bar with curious concoctions from Britain's past. Rooms are chromatic and classic by turns, with repurposed circus-carousel headboards and Union Flag-canopied four-poster beds. Inspired by the adventures and amours of an imaginary Great Aunt Wilhelmina (whose 'portrait' hangs in the bar), this hotel is like a weekend break in a rich relative's time-capsule abode.
Double rooms from £193.60, including tax at 20 per cent.
More details
Rates exclude breakfast, but a Continental breakfast is available in the lounge for £15.50 a person, or pick from classics on the à la carte menu.
Also
Room 7 and the apartment are suitable for guests with reduced mobility (they are more spacious and have walk-in showers). The hotel has a lift which goes to all floors. There's no gym, but guests can get a day pass for nearby Gym Box for £15.
At the hotel
Umbrellas are available to borrow for free. In-room: Free WiFi, flatscreen TV, Marshall or Sonos speakers, selection of classic novels, Rare Tea Co teas and ground coffee, free bottled spring water (from the hotel’s borehole) and White Company amenities.
Our favourite rooms
Room 11, a Deluxe King, clashes colours and cultures – turquoise walls with a red fireplace; a Buddha head in the grate and a repurposed Victorian carousel headboard – creating a vivaciously vintage-style space with clear views of London's skyline from the window and a dramatic black marble-panelled bath set into the wall. Families staying at the hotel will find more than enough room in the Apartment, which has a double sofa bed in the living room and can connect to a Deluxe Double.
Packing tips
Some stamina, for a brisk bike ride over cobbles, bridges and docks in the day; and for exploring Farringdon's nightlife later on.
Also
The portrait of 'Great Aunt Wilhelmina' (which bears a not entirely accidental likeness to Vivienne Westwood), the invented character who inspired the hotel, was painted by Terry Greenwall – who previously painted portraits for the Harry Potter movies.
Children
Welcome. The Apartment can sleep two extra guests on a double sofa-bed, and can connect to one of the Deluxe Double rooms for groups of six.
Sustainability efforts
The Zetter Clerkenwell is remarkably forward-thinking, employing nifty gadgetry and schemes such as an energy loop (which heats your room and cools hotel fridges simultaneously), occupancy detection systems, water drawn from a borehole, and sustainable, recycled and environmentally friendly materials throughout. The Zetter is also a founder member of the Sustainable Restaurant Association.
Swishing a glass around in front of a roaring fire feels especially decadent in these surroundings and if the second dining room isn't being used for events grab a perch near the stuffed boxing kangaroo for a great conversation starter.
Dress Code
You'll feel equally at home in jeans and a jacket in the bar as you would be in something pre-war and full-skirted with an opera cape. Designer Russell Sage's deconstructed Union Flag blazer is spot on, if you're lucky enough to own one.
Hotel restaurant
No restaurant, but the small eats and supper bowls in the lounge take Brit classics and give them a weird and wonderful twist; such as braised brisket and salmon ceviche served with sourdough crisps and topped with pomegranate. Take part in the most English of traditions, afternoon tea. Take your pick between Aunt Wilhelmina's tea with a selection of traditional finger sandwiches, and Uncle Seymour's with more substantial snacks like pea and ham croquettes and truffled sausage rolls; both come with scones, jam and clotted cream, and a variety of cakes. Finally choose your tea, or for something a little stronger, opt for bubbles or cocktails. There’s also a menu for vegetarians.
Hotel bar
This bespoke cocktail menu, carefully concocted with ingredients known for their therapeutic benefits, like St John's Wort and Vetiver, is filled with well-loved classics. But for something a little more interesting, try the Curry Leaf Daiquiri made with curried rum and spiced bitters or the Nettle Gimlet with gin and nettle cordial – packed full of immunity-boosting benefits. Not one of those crowded standing-room joints, the cocktail lounge is table-service only and in high demand, with tables available in 90-minute slots.
Last orders
The lounge serves snacks and cocktails 7.30am to 11.30pm on Tuesday and Wednesday (midnight on Thursday and Friday), and 8am to 12.30am on Saturdays (6pm on Sundays).
Room service
The service menu offers high-end nibbles, charcuterie plates and desserts – including grown-up chocolate fudge – to enjoy in the splendour of your suite (last orders are at 9.45pm).
This Georgian townhouse sits across a cobbled courtyard from sister hotel The Zetter on St John's Square in Clerkenwell. St Paul's Cathedral is a 20-minute walk away and the Old Bailey is 15 minutes away, as is cultural nerve centre, the Barbican.
Planes
Stansted airport (www.stanstedairport.com), the landing point for many budget airlines, is an hour's taxi ride from the hotel. Heathrow Airport (www.heathrowairport.com) is under an hour's drive away, but to avoid the battle of wills that is London driving, ride the Heathrow Express train to Paddington and take a leisurely Tube ride to Farringdon on the Circle line; the hotel is just a 10-minute walk from the Tube station.
Trains
There's a frequent train service direct from London Gatwick to Farringdon overground station, which is a 10-minute walk from the hotel. Many National Rail trains and the Eurostar arrive at St Pancras International; from the station Farringdon is just a 15-minute overground trip away. Farringdon and Barbican Tube stations both service the Elizabeth, Metropolitan, Circle and Hammersmith and City lines.
Automobiles
If you decide to take the plunge and get behind the wheel in London you should be aware that driver hordes and ninja traffic officials aren't the only annoyances you'll face, because Clerkenwell lies within the Congestion Charge zone. On weekdays from 7am to 6pm, there’s a £15 daily payable to drive into and around central London (www.cclondon.com), and certain cars are subject to a £12.50 environmental charge, so be sure to ask before renting if your wheels are ULEZ compliment. There's no parking at the hotel but the Hat & Feathers NCP car park (www.ncp.co.uk) is just a minute’s drive away on Clerkenwell Road.
Worth getting out of bed for
Since Clerkenwell's factories, breweries and distilleries became warehouse conversions, fine dining and nightclubs have appeared on the scene. However, as one of London's most ancient enclaves, it’s still scattered with relics from well before the Industrial Revolution, so in between gourmet scotch eggs in Farringdon's gastropubs and waiting for the beat to drop, you can brush up on your British history. St Paul’s Cathedral – domed masterpiece and much-beloved part of the London skyline – took Sir Christopher Wren over 30 years to complete; the Shard and the Gherkin may tower above it, but this Florence Cathedral-inspired institution holds its own. The landmark dates back to the 17th century, but it’s also well known for a certain low-key wedding held there in the 1980s…Charles and Di? Nah, never heard of them either… The Museum of London’s incredible archives detail the settlements, fires, plagues and wars that built the London of today and it's made all the more fascinating because there’s still evidence of the city’s layered history close by; not least, the remnant of London's Roman wall just outside the museum. However, Clerkenwell’s not all worship and crumbling walls, Old Street is a 10-minute trot away and you can tell by the surfeit of directional-haircut sporting hipsters and bizarrely mustachioed boys skulking about that you’re in the thick of London’s art mecca. There are scores of galleries to stroke your chin in: Hoxton’s White Cube Gallery, Victoria Miro, Parasol Unit and many more tucked away in winding streets; be sure to plan your visit on the last Thursday of each month to schmooze at private views. If you prefer your art multi-faceted and all in one handy space, pay a visit to the Barbican Centre – its Brutalist architecture may look rather ominous, but this labyrinthine cultural hotspot is one of the best arts venues in the UK. Theatre, music, film, dance, art and music are all covered here, and the centre is willing to take a punt on lesser-known, international and obscure artists alongside more established ones. Performances are on every night of the week depending on what medium takes your fancy.
Local restaurants
Just around the corner from the townhouse lies Sushi Tetsu which serves an array of bite-sized fish dishes served on bamboo leaves. Don’t be shy, chefs here will happily make any off-menu rolls and there’s a chef’s selection for the choice-stricken. A few minutes away, Granger & Co. serve all-day Australian-inspired fare, or, if the whimsical Brit-a-brac in the Zetter Clerkenwell tickles your fancy, St John will suit you finer than a bowler hat. The restaurant’s ever-changing menu is filled with quirky dishes revived from a few eras back
Local bars
The Hat and Tun is a traditional British pub filled with Chesterfields, a dark-wood bar and a menagerie of stuffed animal heads. Here half pints o’ prawns and kiln-roasted salmon are washed down with a range of Brit beers. A 10-minute walk away you’ll also find the Craft Beer Co. in Leather Lane, the fleet of beer taps that greet you along the bar of this cosy boozer are a welcome sight indeed. With 16 cask beers and 21 keg beers to sample, this Clerkenwell favourite may require a few repeat visits.
Aah, the Zetter hotel in Clerkenwell. Step into its magical tucked-away corner, close to Farringdon, and you’ll find yourself ever so slightly back in time. This Georgian townhouse, converted into a discreet hideaway, sits on cobbled St John Square and is a delightful mish-mash of grandeur, quirkiness and tales of old. Some true, some not…for example, that of Great Aunt Wilhelmina, a fictional former owner whose ‘portrait’ hangs in the bar, who led a rather fabulous life if her paper (and trinket) trail is to be believed. Well, if you’re going to stay in a fictional character’s ‘house’, it may as well be a dun-roaming flâneur with a saucy side, a hefty fortune and some healthy eccentricities.
The place evokes a certain type of Englishness. Or perhaps many certain types. From stripes that wouldn’t be out of place on a Paul Smith suit, bag or umbrella, to handpainted wallpaper, brocante and antique brass lamps, replica ships, animal illustrations, heavy crimson curtains and reclaimed stools. Each piece might not ‘match’ but certainly comes together and creates a distinct whole.
My 10-year-old and I arrived mid-afternoon over Christmas, just as the sun was going down and the evening glow of street and fairy-lights were beginning to twinkle. Even before we stepped in, we felt like we were starring in our own classic advent calendar. But a handy modern convenience has to be noted: I could park right outside; in fact there were loads of spaces – a relief, as I’d fretted all the way to London about finding a suitable spot close by.
On entering, we got such a warm cosy feeling, thanks to the sink-into velvet sofas, welcoming bar and brilliantly orchestrated muddle of period furniture (the work of noted designer Russell Sage), plus Christmas decorations hung throughout. A host beckoned us in, adding to the Hallmark-movie, ‘come and warm your cockles’ feel.
My daughter couldn’t wait to try out each armchair to see which corner to sit in for her order of apple juice and snacks. We sat for a while, soaking in the atmosphere, before checking into our suite, which we’d been generously upgraded to. The apartment-sized space was everything we’d hoped for and more. Situated on the first floor, overlooking the square, it had not one, but two seating areas – one a sitting room with a large TV, the other a dining area (my daughter wished she’d brought her roller-skates); a huge bed with textured quilts and cushions, hot-water bottles (should we need them) and another TV for snuggly Christmas-movie bingeing. And – a gorgeous touch – the room had its own star-topped tree too. The space was fantastic, more than big enough for four guests. And the bathroom was a heavenly sight after we’d been walking out in the cold, with its underfloor heating, rolltop bath tub and deliciously scented White Company treats.
When we could prise ourselves away from our room, the concierge could not have been kinder or more welcoming – the hotel’s team were seasonally appropriate angels from start to finish. Over the two nights we stayed, we embraced all London had to offer: trips to museums, ice-skating at Somerset House, a film at the Barbican and lots of whizzing around in cabs to see the Christmas lights. The city’s intoxicating essence has been distilled into the Zetter, making it a brilliant Mary Poppins meets Lulu Guinness meets Britpop sort of experience. We were enchanted by the warmth in its hospitality and the love that’s clearly gone into making this a feels-like-home base for exploring.
Some dos and don’ts: do indulge in room service, which was super speedy; don’t forget your toothbrush and do ask for a room with a bath tub (in my opinion, our room had the best in London); do get the concierge to organise taxis and advise on timings – they were spot on; don’t forget to nose around (stairwells are hung with vintage high-society newspapers and playbills); and do explore all Clerkenwell has to offer on foot, from the St John Restaurant to the International Magic Shop. The British Museum is just a 30-minute stroll away and – if you’re planning to pop the question – Hatton Garden Diamond District is close by too. Spitalfields Market is easily reached, and you should experience the joy of cruising through elegant Bloomsbury on the upper deck of a red bus. And, my top tip is: if you're a Blue Badge holder, parking here (and in many parts of London) is free. The hotel has handy lifts too, so its sumptuousness can be enjoyed with ease.
All in all, we had a magical Christmas break at this London treasure, which may offer a blast in the past, but also manages to be as cool as can be.
