On a recent Saturday night stop in London, I decided to test drive The Hoxton Southwark after reading about it across multiple forums and hearing great things about other Hoxton locations. I would rate the experience as fine-ish, but would not return.

The room was industrial chic and unfortunately wasn’t ready when I arrived at the hotel around 10AM on Saturday. It’s always sort of a low starting bar to see a room for the first time after a long, tiring day of walking in the city. It was surprising that no earlier check in was available as the one morning that I had in the hotel, Sunday, was set for sleeping in, but was impossible to execute due to a very busy cleaning staff vacuuming quite early, hallway conversations, and just tons of noise. Soundproof this place!

The room was OK. It looked like any ‘cool’ hotel room of the moment, a mixture of industrial, fun textiles, and a bit of vintage thrown in for good measure.

This radio also appears in may ‘stylish’ hotel rooms across the city.

The bathroom was small, but fine. There was soap and shampoo in the room, but no toiletry kit or lotion which seemed very odd and was unappreciated.

I had planned for a low key Saturday night and wanted to just try the hotel restaurant and turn in to bed after a really long work week. After starting with a drink in the bar, the music across the social lobby was so loud and thumping that I didn’t think I could hear myself read so I just went upstairs and opted for room service. Really, it was so strange. There was no club bit, or even lounge-y area of the hotel. Just a restaurant that flowed into a small sitting area and the bar. The music was ridiculous and drove me away!

Overall, I was disappointed and surprised by my Hoxton experience. It certainly did not entice me to try any of their other properties while travelling.