Andaz Hotel in London Review

Today I want to share my Andaz hotel in London review with you. This hotel by Liverpool Street in east London is a great place to stay in the UK capital.

After my foodie trip to Madrid, I decided I needed to cut back on my calorie consumption for at least a day. Then I remembered that I had been invited by a travel company to attend a dinner at the Andaz hotel in London.

Located right next to Liverpool Street station, the hotel had no fewer than four restaurants and two bars, and I was offered a chance to sample a bit from each of them. With that much food and drink involved, I couldn’t say no.

Andaz London

I arrived at the Andaz hotel on Wednesday night and met my group in the lobby. The area was large and modern, with a slightly industrial feel.

Cool-colored contemporary furniture was complimented by black walls, and a circular hole in the ceiling climbed several white-banistered floors in a Guggenheim-esque manner.

As we waited for everyone to gather, our hosts explained Andaz hotels’ check-in process, where guests are greeted at the door by a staff member with a computer tablet, allowing them to check in anywhere in the lobby.

They also explained that WiFi and many items in the mini bars were free, which I thought was a nice touch.

Andaz Hotel in London Tour

When everyone was present, we took a quick tour of the Andaz hotel in London. First came the guest rooms and suites, all of which were decorated in cool grays, blacks, whites, and reds.

The rooms were fairly large for central London hotel rooms, and the bathrooms had black-and-white tiles that created a slightly retro look I liked.

From the rooms we were shown the rest of the hotel. All around were funky quotes about Shoreditch and the surrounding area, which reminded me of similar quotes on the ceiling of a room I once stayed in at The Hoxton hotel.

After passing through meeting rooms and common spaces, we entered an area of the Andaz hotel in London that presented a stark contrast to the ultramodern interiors we had just seen.

Gone were the clean lines and industrial feel. In marched old-world opulence, gold chandeliers, and white marble staircases. It was a bit of an odd transition, and I didn’t really understand it.

But understand it or no, the next place we went was one of the most unique I’ve ever seen in a hotel: a Masonic temple. According to our hosts, the temple was discovered in recent years when builders took out a wall during a renovation.

Behind the rubble lay a perfectly intact Masonic temple from another era. Now an event space, it was a unique place to see.

From the temple we moved onto the culinary part of our tour of the Andaz hotel in London. We began in Rake’s Cafe Bar, one of the great champagne bars in London. It was decorated in the historic style of the latter half of the hotel.

The counter was buzzing with the after-work crowd from Shoreditch and Spitalfields, and we sampled sushi from the Japanese restaurant, Miyako, as we mingled.

From there we took a quick peek at the hotel’s pub, which was done in dark woods and had a cozy historic feel despite being full-to-bursting with people.

From there we had to go outside the hotel to get to the next two restaurants, which was a bit confusing, and a lot freezing.

On the ground floor we saw the casual Eastway Brasserie restaurant that had windows that looked out onto the street. On the first floor we perused a private dining room with cool portraits of hotel staff and guests on the walls.

Our final destination at the Andaz hotel in London was the 1901 Wine Lounge, which served drinks and afternoon tea.

The huge space had a high ceiling with a pretty stained-glass dome, as well as a central bar. When we entered, a violinist serenaded us.

At the back of the restaurant a tall table was set up for us next to a cheese display case. For the next hour we enjoyed a wide range of English and Irish cheeses, as well as wines as unique as vintage 1983 port.

Dessert came at the end, and was paired with two wines, one of which had been used to make the ice cream.