Tag Archives: hotels

Staying in Tune

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Another of my regular clients, who have sent me around the UK recently, are Tune Hotels. I first came across the company when working for Hotel Tonight who asked me to photograph their London hotels at Paddington, Kings Cross, Liverpool St and Westminster. I was struck by how good the hotels looked — despite advertising themselves as a budget hotel chain they still have an extremely modern aesthetic, with interiors designed by Leisure Concepts featuring bright red highlights and a friendly sans serif font on all the signage. Symbols representing the local area (e.g. the Beatles in Liverpool, the Angel of the North in Newcastle) give a sense of unique identity to each of the hotels, and many of them are in conversions of listed buildings, with the up-to-date styling living alongside original features that add to the individual character of each. Continue reading Staying in Tune →

Fine dining

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Many hotels pull out all the stops when it comes to their restaurants. Given that most of them are open to the public as well as paying guests, they are likely to be seen by more people than any other part of the hotel, so it makes sense to make them look as good as possible. Here are some of my favourites from the past year.

I should add that these photos wouldn’t have been possible without the lovely people at Hotel Tonight who had faith in me and signed me up as their London hotel photographer. In the course of my work with them I’ve been to some amazing places.

(Click on the pictures to view full size.)

The restaurant in NH Kensington
The restaurant in NH Kensington
CitizenM London Bankside's dining area
CitizenM London Bankside’s dining area
Flemings Mayfair's extravagant restaurant
Flemings Mayfair’s extravagant restaurant
The restaurant in the Bloomsbury Hotel, London
The restaurant in the Bloomsbury Hotel, London
Top floor restaurant at Hotel Indigo in Birmingham
Top floor restaurant at Hotel Indigo in Birmingham
The Corner Room at the Town Hall Hotel, London
The Corner Room at the Town Hall Hotel, London
London's Apex Temple Court hotel
London’s Apex Temple Court hotel
Angler at the South Place Hotel, London
Angler at the South Place Hotel, London

Some more impressive hotel lobbies

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Well, while I can’t quite match the impressive hotels seen on the Telegraph’s travel page, I CAN share with you some of the best ones I’ve visited in the past year or so. Here are some of my favourites, in no particular order.

The Town Hall hotel in Bethnal Green is full of Art Deco highlights, such as that cubic clock, the marble pillars and the star on the floor.

The Town Hall Hotel in Bethnal Green, London
The Town Hall Hotel in Bethnal Green, London

CitizenM London Bankside is the Dutch hotel chain’s first London based property. Guests check themselves in on arrival, and can relax in this ultra modern, eccentrically-lit rest area on the ground floor.

The CitizenM London Bankside
The CitizenM London Bankside

The South Place Hotel was designed by the world famous Conran partnership with wonderful detailing throughout, like the photomosaic tiling on the pillars and the log-pile wallpaper surrounding the slate fireplace.

London's South Place Hotel, in Moorgate
London’s South Place Hotel, in Moorgate

The Hempel Hotel is a minimalist’s dream, and after dark the lighting in the lobby changes colour to match the floral arrangement on the reception desk.

The Hempel Hotel in Bayswater, London
The Hempel Hotel in Bayswater, London

In Birmingham’s Rotunda, the Staying Cool apartments have a sparse, narrow corridor as the lobby, illuminated by long aluminium poles with colour-changing LEDs set into each one.

Staying Cool at the Rotunda in Birmingham
Staying Cool at the Rotunda in Birmingham