Andaz London Liverpool Street Review: A colourful city hotel | UK | Travel

Given its central location in the financial district, Andaz London Liverpool Street is a popular haunt for businesspeople, but it’s far more colourful than corporate. In fact, you might be surprised when you step through the revolving doors into the quirky and contemporary lobby, scattered with mismatched velvet seating in shades of electric blue, burnt orange and jade green, tasselled-gold lamps and tropical printed wallpaper.

Colourful painted murals take over the far wall, and a vast sculpture adorned with white paper-like flowers hangs overhead. While it might not be suited to everyone’s tastes, for someone like myself who loves hotels that are doing something a little bit different, it’s a joyful environment to walk into. The lobby also doubles up as a community building space, with a complimentary wine and canapés hour for guests every evening between 6pm and 7pm.

But, there is more than meets the eye at this cavernous hotel, with ornate staircases and even a hidden National Heritage-listed Masonic Temple, decorated in gild and 12 different types of marble, to be discovered as you explore.

The fitness centre, well equipped with everything from cardio machines to weight racks and TRX bodyweight training straps, is another quirky experience. This subterranean training space is housed in a temple-like room, with ornate pillars interspersing the equipment. Certain parts of the hotel retain traditional historic elements of the building’s former life, but at times, the clash between old and new can be jarring.

Check-in is straightforward, and staff are friendly and personable. Though the hotel is busy, the concierge desk is always accessible. Rather than being handed a plain old room key, we were granted access to our room with a transparent card decorated with floral designs that mimic those found in the lobby. We were also happy to learn of the hotel’s generous noon check-out.

Step into the gold-fronted lifts, and you could be mistaken for thinking you’ve stepped into a completely different hotel. While the lobby is an explosion of colour, the corridors stick to subdued grey tones.

Rating: 4/5

Andaz London Liverpool Street has 267 rooms, ranging from the smallest Queen Rooms to King, King Deluxe, and Suites. We were handed the keys to a King Deluxe Room, which offered more than enough space for two people to stay comfortably.

On opening the door to the room, however, I was disappointed to find the vibrancy of the lobby was not mimicked in the bedrooms. Instead, rooms use a palette of greys, black and white, with a few accents of red, alongside a mix of contemporary and mid-century modern furnishing. If you like a more neutral vibe, the muted colour palette might offer the perfect tranquillity at the end of a busy day. However, as someone who embraces the weird and whimsy, I’d have loved to see some of the character from downstairs carried up into the rooms.

That’s not to say rooms are void of personality. A large, minimalist street art mural takes up the far wall of the room, designed by artists designed by Patrick Vale and Paul Davis. The scene depicts a day walking around London’s East End, taking in the sights and sounds of London, including some of the unique characters that bring its streets to life.

Other nods to the surrounding neighbourhood can be found in the coffee table books decorating the magazine rack-style shelves by the 55-inch smart TV.

Rating: 3.5/5

If you’re in London on a quick-turnaround business trip or just don’t fancy leaving the hotel, one of the perks of Andaz London Liverpool Street is that there are multiple bars and restaurants on-site, each with its own distinct personality. These include a traditional British Pub, Lady Abercorn’s Pub and Kitchen, and Japanese restaurant Miyako (which we didn’t try, though we have heard great things about).

There is also Rake’s Café Bar, a casual dining spot that welcomes both guests and passers-by from the street for cocktails and bar food. The space is divided into three rooms, bathed in deep crimson and earthy greens, with high ceilings and ornate stained glass windows. Rake’s cocktail menu is an amalgamation of beverages inspired by William Hogarth’s paintings, each named after one of the eight scenes depicted in his series The Rake’s Progress.

The dining isn’t fancy, but it is served fast and fuss-free, and the staff are incredibly friendly. There’s the usual bar-food fare on offer, including burgers, chips and sandwiches, and small plates inspired by global favourites, such as Padron peppers and beetroot hummus, which are good for at picking alongside a cocktail or two. Our server told us that the oysters are a particular favourite, and while dining, a group of girls stopped by to enjoy the dessert menu alone.

By morning, a buffet breakfast is served in Eastway Brasserie, which was the dining highlight of our stay due to the wide variety of dishes on offer. The typical continental breakfast offers fruits, cheeses, bread, vegetables, cereals, pastries (not limited to just your plain butter croissant but also pan au chocolates and almond croissants) and a hot selection. The cooked section of the buffet has everything you might expect – scrambled eggs, mushrooms and sausages – plus vegetarian sausages (a rarity on hotel buffets) as well as shakshuka.

There is also the option to order dishes such as pancakes, waffles or omelettes from the a la carte breakfast menu – though we were more than satiated from the buffet alone.

Rating: 4/5

Rating: 4/5

Rates vary depending on dates and demand but typically start at £350 per night. Find rooms and book directly on the Andaz London Liverpool Street Hotel website.

Or, compare deals and prices for a stay at Andaz London Liverpool Street with Booking.com or Hotels.com.