There are London hotels that work beautifully as destinations in themselves, and others whose greatest luxury is placing the city almost entirely at your feet. Montcalm East manages to do both.
Rising above City Road in a striking diamond-shaped tower, the five-star Autograph Collection hotel occupies an enviable position where Shoreditch meets the City. Old Street station is only a few minutes away, yet some of East London’s most exciting restaurants, bars, galleries and neighbourhoods are close enough to discover on foot. For a weekend devoted to actually experiencing London rather than constantly crossing it, the location is difficult to beat.
The architecture announces the hotel long before you reach the entrance. Its angular façade and distinctive diagonal windows play with perspective, while inside, references to the optical art of Bridget Riley continue that sense of movement and illusion. Montcalm East draws heavily on the creative history surrounding it: the artists, photographers and rule-breakers who transformed Shoreditch during the late 20th century and gave this pocket of London an identity entirely its own. It makes the hotel feel unusually connected to its neighbourhood.
There is even a dedicated photography studio, while artworks and creative details throughout the property draw on East London’s visual culture. Montcalm East continues that relationship through photography-led programming and creative collaborations.
One of London’s Best Locations for a City Break
Step outside and Shoreditch hits you with its particular kind of energy: colourful, creative and slightly unruly, with street art splashed across brick walls, independent boutiques tucked between cafés and cocktail bars, and the hum of restaurants, galleries and late-night spots giving the neighbourhood a constant sense of movement.
This is one of those parts of London where wandering without much of a plan tends to work rather well. Redchurch Street offers independent boutiques and some serious places to eat; Brick Lane brings vintage shopping, food and an endless procession of street art; Spitalfields combines fashion, design and market stalls beneath its historic roof.
The restaurant scene alone makes the area worth staying in. Nearby Brat has become a Shoreditch institution, cooking fish and meat over open fire with Basque influences and making its whole grilled turbot something of a signature. Smokestak approaches things rather differently, specialising in slow-cooked barbecue in a wonderfully atmospheric industrial space, while Dishoom Shoreditch serves its much-loved interpretation of Bombay comfort food throughout the day from Boundary Street.
Then there is the other side of Montcalm East’s personality: the City. From the hotel, London’s glass-and-steel skyline feels tantalisingly close. Wander south and the streets gradually change character as Shoreditch gives way to the financial district. The Gherkin rises between historic churches and narrow lanes; nearby, Sky Garden offers extraordinary views across the capital from the top of the Walkie Talkie.
Continue towards the Thames and you reach the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, while St Paul’s Cathedral sits in the opposite direction, its dome emerging above the City exactly as it has for centuries. The Barbican is even closer, putting exhibitions, cinema, theatre and concerts comfortably within reach.
That variety is what makes the location so compelling. Breakfast can happen in Shoreditch, the afternoon at St Paul’s or the Tower, sunset at Sky Garden and dinner back among the restaurants of East London without the day becoming an exercise in navigating the Underground.
Rooms Above the London Skyline
Montcalm East has 288 rooms and suites, many shaped around the building’s unusual diagonal floor-to-ceiling windows. Natural light pours through them during the day before London becomes the main attraction after dark.
Inside, the rooms continue the hotel’s Shoreditch influence while providing all the details expected of a five-star city stay: rain showers, underfloor heating, Nespresso machines with Flying Horse Coffee pods, mood lighting, locally sourced minibars, robes and complimentary Wi-Fi.
For the full effect, however, go high. The Sky-High Jr. Suite sits on the 16th or 17th floor and makes the most of the tower’s altitude with spectacular views through the glass. There is space to properly settle in, with a double bed and sofa bed, while the panorama outside provides the sort of constantly changing backdrop that makes it difficult to close the curtains.
Morning brings the city gradually coming to life beneath you. At night, London becomes an illuminated patchwork stretching towards the horizon. For a hotel so immersed in the energy of Shoreditch, the rooms themselves feel pleasingly calm.
A Spa Beneath the City
After a day exploring London, the greatest surprise waits downstairs. YĀTRĀ Signature Spa & Wellness is an unexpectedly serene retreat beneath the pace of East London, combining Ayurvedic philosophy with contemporary treatments and facilities.
At its centre is a 10-metre swimming pool, accompanied by a Jacuzzi, sauna, steam room and fitness centre. Five treatment rooms offer bespoke massages, restorative body rituals and tailored facial therapies. It changes the rhythm of a stay completely.
Spend the morning walking through Shoreditch and the City, disappear downstairs for a swim and steam, then emerge ready for dinner. In a city that encourages you to keep moving from morning until night, having somewhere genuinely restorative to retreat to feels like a luxury in itself.
Creativity at Every Turn
What prevents Montcalm East from becoming simply another polished London hotel is the personality running through it.
Photography, optical art and the creative history of Shoreditch inform the experience without turning the hotel into a caricature of its neighbourhood. There is refinement here, but also an awareness that East London has always been at its best when it is experimenting.
The building itself encapsulates that contradiction rather beautifully: sharp and futuristic from the outside, warm and comfortable within. And then there is London beyond the glass.
Few locations make it quite so easy to experience several versions of the capital in a single stay. Turn one way for street art, cocktails and some of London’s most talked-about restaurants; another for the Barbican and St Paul’s; continue south for the Gherkin, Sky Garden and the centuries of history surrounding the Tower of London.
Montcalm East gives you somewhere stylish to return to at the end of it all – preferably via the swimming pool. For anyone looking for a luxury hotel in Shoreditch that makes exploring London genuinely easy, it is difficult to imagine a more useful base.
151–157 City Rd, Hoxton, London, EC1V 1JH, UK
