Two converted buildings, both lively at night. The Ned has seven restaurants in and below Lutyens's banking hall and a basement pool that some rates include, for eating in; The Standard, London, much cheaper and without a pool, sits two minutes from Eurostar, for design lovers who stay out late.
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 design oneA 1970s Camden council block turned design hotel, with a red lift up the outside to a tenth floor facing St Pancras.
££From about £250 a night
Choose The Standard, London if
The catch
The Standard King Interior has no windows at all, and it is the first room on the hotel's own list.
| Best for | The Ned | The Standard, London |
|---|---|---|
| Best design hotels in London | On the list | On the list |
| Best spa hotels in London | On the list | Not on the list |
| Best value hotels in London | Not 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 NedThe Standard, London
The Ned
The Standard, London
The verdict
Two converted buildings, both lively at night. The Ned has seven restaurants in and below Lutyens's banking hall and a basement pool that some rates include, for eating in; The Standard, London, much cheaper and without a pool, sits two minutes from Eurostar, for design lovers who stay out late.
Questions people ask
Two converted buildings, both lively at night. The Ned has seven restaurants in and below Lutyens's banking hall and a basement pool that some rates include, for eating in; The Standard, London, much cheaper and without a pool, sits two minutes from Eurostar, for design lovers who stay out late.
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.
The Standard earns its place on the building, the lift and the tenth floor, and on a King's Cross address you can walk off a train into. Pay up to the Premium King View and accept that the quiet parts of a hotel are not what this one is for. Design is the whole argument here, and so is the address: a saved Brutalist block two minutes from Eurostar, with the restaurants and the bars stacked at the top of it. It is loud, it is photographed, and it has no spa or pool at all.
There is no pool. There is no beach; the nearest is a drive away.