One of our New York editors, Amelia Mularz, took a trip to London and returned with an iPhone full of snaps and a taste for Scotch eggs. This is just a small sampling of the details she dug across the pond. Here, she explains...
1. Coffee! Yes! I've never accepted caffeine as enthusiastically as I did here in the lobby at the Dean Street Townhouse. It was my first stop after a redeye flight and that little cup saved my sanity (for at least 45 minutes).Â
2. When a friend suggested Columbia Road Flower Market I thought, meh...plants? But I ended up walking the length of these gorgeous stalls at least four times and seriously lamented the fact that I couldn't fill my suitcase with decorative cabbage. Â
3. I did, however, fill my suitcase with gifts from the shops that surround the flower stalls. Shoutout to American Airlines for being so reasonable about my overstuffed bag.
4. The cosy cocktail bar at The Zetter Townhouse stole my heart with their vintage apothecary jars. The taxidermy cat in Victorian garb by the fireplace was just icing on the cake.Â
5. Scotch eggs, how have I lived so long without you? This was my very first tasting (it had to be documented, of course) at a pub near Smith's headquarters in Shepherd's Bush.
6. The only in-room item that excited me more than the retro-style Roberts radio at the Dean Street Townhouse was the tin next to it that had my favorite word, 'Treats,' engraved on the lid. Each day housekeeping filled it with fresh cookies...er...biscuits, as the Brits say. Â
7. These swatches were framed and hanging outside my room (#103) at Number Sixteen hotel. Seeing the inspiration behind the decor was like taking a peek inside design guru Kit Kemp's brain.
8. Meet my buddies Nelson and Nancy. Town Hall Hotel & Apartments has a goldfish pimping program (I couldn't make this up). If you donate 10 quid a night, the fish can sleep in your room. But don't worry, these are critters with hearts of gold. All money raised goes to a local charity.Â
9. This tasty tray, including rabbit and pork rillettes, at Bistrot Bruno Loubet in The Zetter hotel was so much more scrumptious than my typical PB&J work lunch.Â
10. Eenie meenie miney mo... I grew up vacationing in Wisconsin motels where the most you could hope for, in terms of bath products, was a bar of soap the size of a butter pat. That's probably why I feel pure jubilation each time I see the spread of Cowshed shampoos and shower gels at Soho House hotels. High Road House, here, was no exception. Cue the Jeffersons theme song ('Well we're movin' on up...').Â