Hotel review: The unique Threadneedles, London

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Housed in a former Victorian banking hall, the luxury Threadneedles Hotel has a discreet entrance which gives no clue to what lies beyond. Large wooden doors with frosted glass open onto a modern lobby and check-in area.  The first thing you’ll notice is the grand circular lobby, which has been styled in an art deco fashion and is covered by ‘The Dome’ – an elaborate hand painted stained-glass dome that dates back to 1856 and towers high above the lobby, flooding it in dazzling technicolour.

The Threadneedles is a boutique hotel hidden in The City of London’s Square Mile. The London hotel opened its doors in 2002, and is located in one of the oldest districts amidst the City’s most iconic landmarks including The Gherkin, The Bank of England, Mansion House and St Paul’s Cathedral to name a few.

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First impressions: calm, sophisticated and grand

The 74-room luxury London hotel is a short walk from Bank underground station. Despite being so close to the tube station I couldn’t find the hotel and got lost, I had walked right past it, don’t think juggling between my luggage and brolly in the rain helped.

Once inside I was pleasantly surprised. Check-in staff was friendly, I was offered a complimentary paper for the morning (The Independent) and my luggage was brought to my suite. I was really impressed with the hotel porter, I was given full instructions on how everything worked in my room. The room may not have been groundbreaking but it was a great size, with smart business décor, given a sprucing with modern art. There is complimentary Wi-Fi, tea/coffee making facilities, iron and bottled water. The small sitting area gave the sense of being in a mini apartment. I knew I would be happy here, even if it was only just for one night.

My bed was colossal and ridiculously comfy. The flat screen TV may have been on the small size but you do have three TVs, that’s right, three TVs – one in the bedroom, lounge – and the bathroom, not that I had much time to flick through the channels. The luxury London hotel also offers an in-room movie munch-fest of popcorn, ice cream and Coke.

The bathroom was a delight and possibly my favourite room in the hotel, more hotels should have bathrooms like this. The luxury marble bathroom has a decent size bathtub with shower, and a separate rainforest shower cubicle, plenty of luxury toiletries by The White Company – and a wide selection of magazines on a rollable bath cart. You are even provided with bath salts, which I made full use of before dinner.

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Bonds Restaurant

The Corinthian columns which echo the building’s past, set the scene in Bonds Restaurant, which serves seasonal French cuisine with a modern twist using a selection of fresh, locally sourced produce. The luxury London restaurant was rather quite for a Friday night, with only a handful of customers. The London hotel is pretty quite over the weekends, but during the week it’s full of luxuriating bankers and well-heeled customers, making it perfect for a quiet romantic weekend.  A two-course set menu will set you back £19.50 and a three course menu £24. I opted for the three-course menu, obviously.

My starter was a lightly spiced parsnip soup with truffle honey and parsnip crisps, it was extremely satisfying. For my main I had the roast Cornish Pollock with lemon and caper potatoes, baby fennel, brown shrimps and butter sauce, I’d never had Pollock before but it was delicious, it had a flaky texture and tasted very similar to Cod. I don’t know how but I managed to squeeze in the bread and butter pudding, and I’m glad I did – OMG it was out of this world, if you have space it’s worth sampling – you wont be disappointed.

What surprised me about Bonds was the moderate pricing of the set menu for a high-end restaurant. Our waitress was well-informed, attentive and it was a pleasure to dine in such fine surroundings. The restaurant is very spacious, comfortable and luxurious in its use of dark-wood flooring and paneling. I can imagine during the week it’s full of bankers on lunch meetings striking deals. I can’t wait to go back.

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