Look, I’ll be straight with you – when I first saw this place listed as a “hotel,” I was scratching my head because it’s actually a studio apartment tucked away on Long Lane. But honestly? That’s what makes it pretty great. You’re not dealing with hotel lobbies or key cards that never work on the first try, you’re just walking into what feels like a proper London flat that happens to be yours for the week.
The location is where this place really shines, and I mean that in the most practical way possible. Borough Market is literally around the corner – you know, that massive food market where tourists queue for grilled cheese sandwiches but locals know to hit up the Spanish olives guy early before he runs out. I grabbed coffee from Monmouth (the original one, not the tourist trap in Covent Garden) probably six mornings in a row just because I could stumble there in my pajamas basically. And here’s the thing about being five minutes from Borough station – you’re not just well-connected, you’re on the Northern line which actually runs on weekends, unlike half the other lines that decide to do engineering works every Saturday. The walk to London Bridge is maybe ten minutes if you’re dawdling, which puts you stupidly close to everything south of the river.
The studio itself is… well, it’s a studio, so don’t expect to spread out like you’re in some massive suite. But it’s cleverly done – whoever set this up actually thought about how people live, not just how spaces look in photos. The kitchen area has enough counter space that you can actually cook (I made pasta twice, very successfully), and there’s this little breakfast bar situation that works perfectly if you want to eat something more substantial than a Pret sandwich. The bed is comfortable enough that I didn’t wake up feeling like I’d been wrestling with London itself all night, which honestly happens more often than I’d like to admit in some places. One small thing – the shower pressure is decent but the bathroom’s a bit snug, though that’s pretty standard for London unless you’re dropping serious money.
What I really appreciated was how quiet it gets at night, considering you’re basically in the heart of everything. Long Lane isn’t one of those streets where drunk people stumble around at 2 AM singing football chants, it’s more residential once you get away from the market end. The check-in was refreshingly simple – none of this “we’ll hold your passport and maybe give you wifi” nonsense you get at some places. You’ll want to grab groceries from the Tesco Express on Borough High Street rather than the tiny convenience shops right nearby, unless you enjoy paying £4 for a sad banana. Oh, and if you’re here on a weekend, Borough Market gets absolutely mental around lunchtime, but early morning when the vendors are setting up? It’s actually magical, all misty and bustling with people who clearly know what they’re doing.