This design-led Dalston aparthotel ticks all our boxes for stress-free east London overnighters.
19 November, 2021
The fifth London-based address from aparthotel group Locke, the Kingsland outpost is a pastel-hued Hackney hangout we have a lot of time for. Offering a new kind of hotel approach, it attracts a cool clique of young business travellers with its industrial-chic interiors and handy co-working café, its self-contained apartments providing a space to truly make your own in one of London's trendiest neighbourhoods.
Right opposite Dalston's famed Rio Cinema, the property is accessed from Kingsland High Street, through a white-tiled entryway and leafy reception area. Once inside, either head over to the hotel's bluey-hued co-working space (rumoured to serve up the best coffee in this neck of the woods) or skip the caffeine hit and make a beeline straight for the on-site microbrewery or gin distillery. Yep. See what we mean when we say "new kind of hotel"?
Kingsland Locke's 124 apartments are kitted out with uber-swish designer kitchens and sumptuous sofas, with - dare we say it - the comfiest king-size beds we've ever slept in. There's really no need to leave your room - designed to be "lived in, not just slept in" - at all, really, unless the siren call of a craft cocktail from the downstairs bar overwhelms you, of course.
Whatever takes your fancy, if you make it from your apartment's kitchen, although if a café breakfast is more your style, you'll be spoilt for choice with the likes of freshly squeezed orange juice, locally roasted coffee and top-drawer pastries at Shaman, the hotel's ground-floor all-day café.
Again, the menu here is yours for the making if whipped up in your own kitchen. Otherwise, grab kebabs cooked on a wood-and-charcoal-filled robata from the underground restaurant, or posh pre-party snacks from the bar upstairs.
Very good. This is a space that was built from the ground up with the environment in mind: recycled materials and eco products abound throughout, and the property's on-site distillery and microbrewery have reduced its carbon footprint by 75 per cent.
You'll find a well-equipped workout studio - The Locker - available for all guests to use free of charge during their stay, as well as plenty of street-level bike storage.
Everything and anything. This is Dalston - a gloriously loud mishmash of cultures, colours and things to do. You'll find numerous shops, pubs, pop-ups and bars within a five-minute walk, and the busy market stalls and coffee shops of London Fields within a 20-minute stroll.
Thanks to its handy location a stone's throw from the epicentre of Hackney's nightlife, the property also attracts partygoers and pleasure-seekers seeking a "party crash pad" (the new nickname for Kingsland Locke's ground-floor apartments). Book a studio on one of the upper levels if you're staying on business.
