The catch at The Ned
Five things stand between the photograph and the stay. The photograph is usually the rooftop pool with St Paul's behind it, and that is the first of them.
On our shortlists
- Best design hotels in LondonLutyens's Grade I Midland Bank, with 92 verdite columns downstairs
- Best spa hotels in LondonA 20 metre pool, sauna and steam for adults, and a 620 m² gym
- Best central hotels in LondonTwo minutes from Bank and eight to St Paul's along Cheapside
- Best hotels for food and drink in LondonSeven restaurants in Lutyens's bank, from afternoon tea to steak
The rooftop pool belongs to Ned's Club, and a room does not get you in
Ned's Club Upstairs is the heated pool, the two converted domes and the terraces on the roof, open 7am to 11pm. The hotel's own FAQ says the space is only available to Ned's Club members and their guests, over 18, and the booking terms repeat it: members can access Ned's Club Upstairs and Downstairs, which include the roof and The Vault. Hotel guests are on neither list. The one exception the hotel publishes is for children, who may use the rooftop pool between 7am and 10am daily, and the Upstairs page adds that children may eat breakfast there with an adult until 10am. That is the whole of it: three morning hours, for the under-18s.
Even the hotel's paid Ned Friends tier stops at the door. Its page lists access to all Ned's Club spaces when staying in a bedroom, excluding Ned's Club Rooftop. Guests report the rooftop misunderstanding more often than any other complaint, and it is the most avoidable one.
What to do. Decide before you book that the roof is somebody else's club. If a pool matters, the basement pool in Ned's Club Spa is the one you get, when your rate includes it.
Spa and gym access depends on the rate, and both are adults only
Whether a room includes access to Ned's Club Gym and Spa depends on the rate, and where it does, the hotel makes it subject to availability. The spa page gives the alternative: without that access, a Spa Day Pass is 200 pounds, redeemable against a treatment.
The spa runs 8am to 8pm daily and is for guests aged 18 and over. The gym, 620 square metres with three studios, opens 6am to 10pm on weekdays and 8am to 8pm at weekends. The FAQ says the spa, gym and basement pool are always adults only, so a family booking buys a building with two pools and no pool the children can use after ten in the morning.
What to do. Check that your rate includes the spa and the gym, and take the prepaid rate if your dates are fixed: on 9 to 11 February 2027 it was 55 pounds a night below the flexible rate in every category.
The ground floor is a public restaurant hall that runs until late
The banking hall is not a lobby. It is a hall of public restaurants and bars under 92 verdite columns, with more on the floor below, and it is busy because anyone can walk in. Nickel Bar opens at 7am on weekdays and 9am at weekends and runs, in the hotel's words, to late, with live music on The Nickel Stage and no booking required. Cecconi's serves until midnight most nights, and The Parlour runs jazz and cabaret from 6pm to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, with drinks reservations from 10pm. Guests report loud, crowded public spaces with nowhere quiet to sit, and the weekends are the worst of it.
The bedrooms are sold by floor area, not by view, and no category page below the suites describes what the window looks at, and the hotel does not say. The building does its living downstairs.
What to do. Treat the ground floor as a night out you are staying above, and ask at booking for a higher floor away from the hall; the terms say specific rooms cannot be guaranteed, but the request costs nothing.
The bill grows after you book: service charge, breakfast, cover charge
The booking terms add a discretionary 5% accommodation service charge to every room bill. Rates are room only unless you choose the Bed & Breakfast rate, which on 9 to 11 February 2027 cost 40 pounds a night more than the flexible room-only rate and covers breakfast up to 32 pounds a person, excluding service. Pay as you go in Millie's Lounge and the breakfast menu prices a Full English at 22 pounds and eggs any style at 12, with a discretionary 14.5% service charge on top. Dinner in The Parlour carries a 20 pound a head entertainment cover, waived only for members. An extra bed is 60 pounds a night.
None of this is hidden, but it is why value for money is the steady gripe in guest reviews, where location and cleanliness are not.
What to do. Add roughly 5% to any room rate you see, and only take the Bed & Breakfast rate if two of you will eat a cooked breakfast every morning; below that, ordering off the menu is cheaper.
Two people who want two beds, or a small child at the bar, will be disappointed
The FAQ answers the twin-room question in one line: The Ned offers double beds in all bedrooms. There are no twins in 250 rooms. Children are welcome in the ground-floor restaurants, but guests under 18 are not permitted in Nickel Bar after 8pm, and after 8pm children may only dine in Electric Bar & Diner or Kaia with their parents. The consolation is a complimentary main course from the children's menu in Millie's Lounge between 5pm and 6pm for under-sixes staying in the hotel. Small dogs are allowed but confined to the bedroom.
What to do. Friends sharing should take a Stairwell Studio, which the hotel says sleeps two adults and two children with a king bed and a separate pull-out, or two Cosy rooms. Families should plan dinner at Kaia or Electric.
Who should skip it
Anyone who booked for the rooftop, anyone who wants a quiet hotel with a hushed lobby, two colleagues who need twin beds, and families whose idea of a hotel includes a pool the children can use in the afternoon. Also drivers: no parking, and the Congestion Charge zone starts at the door.
Who should book it anyway
Anyone who wants to sleep inside Lutyens's bank and eat in it without going outside, City Airport flyers, and architecture people who will take a Heritage Room on the listed fifth floor. Take the spa and the gym as your pool, on a rate that includes them, and treat the roof as a club you did not join.
The catch elsewhere in London
- Claridge'sMayfair
No Michelin star in the house in the 2026 guide, and the dining room has changed hands twice since 2021.
- Shangri-La The Shard, LondonLondon Bridge
Superior Shard and Premier Shard rooms face south, away from the river. The views north over London's landmarks start at the City View categories, so the picture that sold you the hotel is a paid upgrade.
- The Standard, LondonKing's Cross
The Standard King Interior has no windows at all, and it is the first room on the hotel's own list.
- Sea Containers LondonSouth Bank
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.
- Town Hall HotelBethnal Green
Da Terra serves Wednesday to Saturday only, and on Sunday the hotel serves no lunch or dinner and the lounge is closed.
- Hazlitt'sSoho
Steep stairs and floors that slant, and the hotel publishes nothing about lifts, so plan for stairs.
- Artist Residence LondonPimlico
No lift, and the bedrooms are spread over three floors above the ground floor.
- The Zetter MaryleboneMarylebone
No restaurant, no spa, no gym and no pool, so dinner and everything else happens outside the building.
- The PilgrmPaddington
No air conditioning anywhere, only fans, which tells in a heatwave.
Questions people ask
Good questions about The Ned
What are the downsides of The Ned?
Five things stand between the photograph and the stay. The photograph is usually the rooftop pool with St Paul's behind it, and that is the first of them. The rooftop pool belongs to Ned's Club, and a room does not get you in Spa and gym access depends on the rate, and both are adults only The ground floor is a public restaurant hall that runs until late The bill grows after you book: service charge, breakfast, cover charge Two people who want two beds, or a small child at the bar, will be disappointed
Who should not book The Ned?
Anyone who booked for the rooftop, anyone who wants a quiet hotel with a hushed lobby, two colleagues who need twin beds, and families whose idea of a hotel includes a pool the children can use in the afternoon. Also drivers: no parking, and the Congestion Charge zone starts at the door.
Our verdict
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.
Last checked: September 2026