Launched in late January, Urban Villa combines upmarket serviced apartments with a boutique hotel feel, and it’s only a 12-minute cab journey away from the centre, so if you fancy some city action, it’s never too far away.
The whole experience at this hotel has been painstakingly curated, so while you can’t step outside straight onto London’s happening streets, there is plenty to keep you entertained at “home”.
Some of the quirky features include: indie food and drinks suppliers, a NoHo gym (or a gym kit in your apartment if you feel like a solo workout), in-room spa treatments, three types of mattress to choose from, and even three types of room to select from, all with superfast wifi.
There are also regular live cultural events, an international call service that they claim is cheaper than Skype, cocktail trolleys to take the party to wherever you may be, and Playstations brought up to your room if you so please.
There are 100 rooms over 10 floors and Urban Villa offers plenty of options for anyone, from business travellers to backpackers. It’s designed to cater for all – they’ve even invested heavily in sound-proof walls to keep the peace.
In another move to adapt to guests’ specific needs, the hotel concept offers pullout beds so up to four people on a budget can split the costs. There are also sleek kitchens so you could just as happily have a night in as go into central London.
The apartments themselves are modern, with balconies, espresso machines, smart TVs and Bluetooth radios as standard, so you can make yourself at home right from the start. You can even hire a tablet device pre-loaded with TV shows and movies if there’s nothing on the box.
The ground floor and 24-hour reception area is a chic, open-plan space with the feel of a hot central London restaurant, and you could happily hang out there sipping cocktails all evening if you didn’t fancy the trip into London (via Brentford station less than 10 minutes walk, or South Ealing tube, a bus journey away).
At full price the apartments range from between £100-£130, but they’re running a promotional offer of £70 for the month of February.
In a highly competitive city it’s a bit of a punt, considering how much there is to choose from in zones one and two. But, festooned with saucy little features to keep you interested and at less than the price of most London hotels, it’s a lovely new option for travellers of all kinds.
For more information, go to urbanvilla.com.
