South Place is a haven for the denizens of Silicon Roundabout
REVIEW
SOUTH PLACE HOTEL
3 South Place, EC2M 2AF
020 3503 0000
The music, man, it reminds me of last night. It makes me want to dance.” These words are probably not what you expect to hear from the reception staff at a new opening by D&D Group – the company behind Coq d’Argent, Le Pont de la Tour and The Grand Café.
But the restaurant group’s new hotel, South Place, isn’t like its more formal siblings. Maybe its trendy surroundings (it is only a few blocks from Old Street’s Silicon Roundabout), have rubbed off on it.
When I checked in on a Saturday night, the downstairs bar – complete with DJ – was in full swing. The staff were clearly enjoying it.
South Place has the unmistakable Conran furnishings and minimalist aesthetic (design maestro Terence Conran may be selling his stake in D&D but his influence clearly remains) but there is more than a little “hipster” thrown into the mix, too.
My room was more trendy than elegant, decked out in shades of grey and accented by a (not unattractive) bilious green. On the wall over the bed was a portrait of an owl wearing a hat – East End hipsters would feel right at home. My floor to ceiling window (which, for a terrifying second, appeared to open, sending me into a vertiginous panic before I realised it came with an irremovable safety catch) looked down onto a terrace with an outdoor bar – the site of a burlesque show for the hotel’s opening party.
I ate at the Angler restaurant at the top of the building, which provides views across the City from windows lining a jauntily angled wall. The lobster and scallop ravioli were delicious and the angler and lobster pie not too shabby either.
South Place is not one to recommend to your grandparents, but it is perfect for the chic geeks checking in to visit Silicon Roundabout. If you’re not averse to a bit of loud music and pointedly hip décor, this comes recommended.