The City against the South Bank. The Ned, from about £433, suits architecture lovers who eat in, with seven restaurants and a 20 metre spa pool if your rate includes it; Sea Containers London, from about £279, has no pool and suits theatre weekends and cocktail people, with Lyaness downstairs.
The iconLutyens's Midland Bank, reopened as 250 bedrooms above a ground floor that now holds seven restaurants, with the best of it kept for members.
£££From about £433 a night
Choose The Ned if
The catch
The rooftop pool and its terraces belong to Ned's Club members and their guests. The only guest access the hotel publishes is 7am to 10am, for children.
The all-rounderA 1970s office block on the Thames Path turned into a ship-themed hotel with a Gordon Ramsay dining room, Lyaness and its own cinema.
££From about £279 a night
Choose Sea Containers London if
The catch
Standard, Superior, Superior Double Double, Superior Patio, Studio and the One Bedroom Suite are all filed as city view. Only the Riverview categories and the Thames Apartment face the water.
| Best for | The Ned | Sea Containers London |
|---|---|---|
| Best design hotels in London | On the list | On the list |
| Best spa hotels in London | On the list | On the list |
| Best central hotels in London | On the list | On the list |
| Best hotels with a view in London | Not on the list | On the list |
| Best hotels for food and drink in London | On the list | On the list |
The NedSea Containers London
The Ned
Sea Containers London
The verdict
The City against the South Bank. The Ned, from about £433, suits architecture lovers who eat in, with seven restaurants and a 20 metre spa pool if your rate includes it; Sea Containers London, from about £279, has no pool and suits theatre weekends and cocktail people, with Lyaness downstairs.
Questions people ask
The City against the South Bank. The Ned, from about £433, suits architecture lovers who eat in, with seven restaurants and a 20 metre spa pool if your rate includes it; Sea Containers London, from about £279, has no pool and suits theatre weekends and cocktail people, with Lyaness downstairs.
Book it for the building and for the fact that seven kitchens sit between your bed and the street. Check that your rate includes the pool and the gym, and treat the rooftop as somebody else's club. A loud, public, restaurant-led hotel inside a Grade I listed bank, two minutes from Bank station and squarely in the middle of the City. The bedrooms are the quiet part and the ground floor is the point, so expect to eat in and expect company while you do it.
It has indoor and outdoor pools. There is no beach; the nearest is a drive away.
This is the choice for dinner, drinks and a film under one roof if you accept that there is no pool and pay up for the river side. Book the Riverview Deluxe and the building does the rest. A large, design-led city hotel that also owns a Gordon Ramsay dining room, a 3 PIN cocktail bar and a working cinema, on the South Bank stretch of the Thames Path. The trade is that there is no pool and the cheapest rooms look the wrong way.
There is no pool. There is no beach; the nearest is a drive away.