The two cheapest ways into this edit, buying opposite things. The Pilgrm if you want a central address three minutes from Paddington and will accept a room of about 14 square metres with a fan instead of air conditioning, Town Hall Hotel if you will trade Bethnal Green for apartment-sized rooms, a 14 metre pool and Da Terra on the ground floor.
The smart moneyThree minutes from Paddington, in Victorian townhouses, with the front desk replaced by a café and the savings put into the rooms.
€From about £184 a night
Choose The Pilgrm if
The catch
No air conditioning anywhere, only fans, which tells in a heatwave.
The tableA listed Bethnal Green town hall with Rafael Cagali's two-star Da Terra on the ground floor and apartment-sized rooms above it.
€From about £173 a night
Choose Town Hall Hotel if
The catch
Da Terra serves Wednesday to Saturday only, and on Sunday the hotel serves no lunch or dinner and the lounge is closed.
The PilgrmTown Hall Hotel
The Pilgrm
Town Hall Hotel
The verdict
The two cheapest ways into this edit, buying opposite things. The Pilgrm if you want a central address three minutes from Paddington and will accept a room of about 14 square metres with a fan instead of air conditioning, Town Hall Hotel if you will trade Bethnal Green for apartment-sized rooms, a 14 metre pool and Da Terra on the ground floor.
Questions people ask
The two cheapest ways into this edit, buying opposite things. The Pilgrm if you want a central address three minutes from Paddington and will accept a room of about 14 square metres with a fan instead of air conditioning, Town Hall Hotel if you will trade Bethnal Green for apartment-sized rooms, a 14 metre pool and Da Terra on the ground floor.
The design budget went into the building here, and the savings came off the rate. Book a Comfy, ask for the back of the house, and accept that the room is for sleeping. Design-led and deliberately stripped back: the money went into the building, the beds and the salvage, and came off the rate and off the facilities. A city base rather than somewhere to spend the day, in a Victorian house that could not be anywhere but London.
There is no pool. There is no beach; the nearest is a drive away.
Book it for Da Terra and for the building, and check the restaurant's days before you fix the dates. If you want to step out of the door into central London, this is the wrong postcode. The reason to book is on the ground floor, and the rate is the other one: a two-star kitchen under a listed Edwardian town hall, with apartment-sized rooms above it at East London prices. Everything else you do from here, because the hotel is quiet and stops serving lunch and dinner on Sunday.
It has an indoor pool. There is no beach; the nearest is a drive away.