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Soho has been described as many things over the years including bohemian, raffish, gaudy and creative. If you’re seeking to stay in the area and looking for a four-star boutique hotel in Soho, the Rathbone is an ideal choice. Our guide to Soho as well as the history of the area has been written by the Rathbone staff and gives you all you need to know about what to do and where to go.
Boutique Hotels, Soho London
As you’ll know, the choice of places to stay in London is huge. You can spend £15 a night in a youth hostel, you might be after a London holiday apartment or you could even spend £1,000 a night at a luxuriously opulent five-star hotel but there is a happy medium.
The Rathbone is located on Rathbone Street, one of several Charlotte Street hotels and close to Charlotte Place. As one of the most popular four-star boutique hotels in Soho, we offer guests unrivalled quality, comfort, style and affordability – the ideal combination. This combo is recognised by our guests and as such, we are the proud owners of a Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor.
Every room, from the singles to the suites, is decorated and apportioned in a modern, contemporary style. You’ll find space to relax, work, and unwind after a long day in the office or a day out exploring all that London has to offer. We’re one of the best known hotel’s in London’s Fitzrovia and, as well as the rooms and our top-notch facilities and amenities, we have some great benefits for your stay, including:
- FREE continental breakfast every morning you’re with us
- FREE wi-fi when you book direct through our website
- Great discounts at local restaurants, health clubs and spas
- 24h reception staff and concierges on hand for anything you need
So if you’re searching for Soho boutique hotels, The Rathbone ranks consistently amongst the best so make sure you contact us today.
Music, Entertainment, Food and Colour – Soho
If you’re coming to London and looking for the best nightlife, bars an d entertainment as well as lively people with a laid-back bohemian vibe, Soho is the place for you! It’s a 24-hour enclave of excitement unmatched anywhere else in London and it’s not just for party people! It’s a great place to be for families, tourists and business travellers.
If you’re staying at the Rathbone, one of the very best boutique hotels in Soho, you have the perfect base from where to enjoy everything London has to offer! Your food options are plentiful – from Michelin-starred dining rooms to the newest pop-ups, burger restaurants and almost anything you can think of. You’re a few minutes’ walk from Gerrard Street and Chinatown and you’ll find a coffee shop, pub and wine bar on almost every corner.
Shopping in Soho is equally eclectic. The high-end designer shops of Bond Street and South Moulton Street are close by, but the big draw is the fantastic choice of quirky, independent shops that litter the area and make it a haven for everyone coming and staying in Soho’s boutique hotels.
This Is Soho
For centuries, like most of London, the area that is now Soho was mainly farmland. No-one knows why Soho is so-called but due to its association with nightlife, you will find a Soho in Hong Kong, Buenos Aries, New York and Malaga.
In the middle of the sixteenth century, King Henry VIII proclaimed the area as a royal park and in the centuries that followed, ownership of the area was passed first to Henry Jermyn, the 1st Earl of St Albans, then to Joseph Girle and onto a bricklayer called Richard Frith who, it is said, kept his tools in the wooden shed that you can see in the middle of Soho Square. Into the late 1600s and Frith, William Bentinck and Robert Sydney started to build homes to ease the overcrowding in the City.
They wanted an area suited to the rich and the nobility, just like the surrounding areas of Mayfair, Bloomsbury and Marylebone but those who came to Soho very quickly left and its ambitions were never fulfilled. This is when the disconnect between Soho and the rest of London became evident and it’s something that has remained to a greater or lesser extent to this day.
Soho was largely forgotten for the next century and, as with all areas of neglect, it became a meeting point for immigrants. The community that was most heavily represented was the French Huguenots and Soho became known as London’s French Quarter.
Their influence remains visible today with the French church in Soho Square as well as plenty of French cafés, shops, bookshops and eateries, including Elena’s L’Etoile, one of London’s most famous French restaurants. If you book your stay online at the Rathbone, one of the best boutique hotels in Soho, you will receive a discount dining card giving you 10% off your food bill there. If you’re lucky, you will also get to do some great celeb-spotting.
Into the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Soho’s legendary drinking dens and music halls attracted what may sensitively be described as a flamboyant, colourful ‘clientele’ and although the area still has a reputation (albeit now clichéd and lazy) of being associated with a certain counterculture, it has been mostly abandoned by the more unsavoury elements while the creative agencies and TV production companies have moved in. Indeed, the area has been slowly gentrified and there is a ‘Save Soho’ campaign backed by such luminaries as Stephen Fry, Benedict Cumberbatch, Eddie Izzard and Gemma Arterton who are worried the area will be ‘regenerated beyond recognition.’ Stephen Fry was quoted as saying he didn’t want Soho to end up looking like ‘Singapore Airport’.
Boutique Soho Hotels – Why Choose The Rathbone?
When you’re looking for a boutique hotel in Soho, you do have choice, so why should you choose the Rathbone? Here are our top five reasons:
- Every room is beautifully decorated, spacious and perfect for relaxing and working
- The amenities and facilities we offer guests rank among the best in London
- Our customer service is exceptional with 24h professional reception staff
- We have super-fast wi-fi and an excellent room service menu
- We are proud to have a Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor
The Rathbone is one of the most popular boutique hotels in Soho and one of the best known Oxford Street hotels, but of course we’re going to say that! Take a look at our reviews but better still, come and see for yourself!