Hazlitt’s hotel review - your home in soho
A comfy, cozy, quirky hidden gem in London’s bustling, lively Soho area; this 30-room hotel on Frith St., steps from West End theatres, restaurants, cafes, nightclubs, Soho Square, Chinatown, and more has been a favorite of J.K. Rowling, Anthony Bourdain, and now yours truly!
Choosing a hotel in London can be a fairly intimidating undertaking - you have countless options in any number of areas in the city you’ve been told either can’t be missed or must be avoided; London being such a pricy destination means your budget might eliminate some top choices from contention; if you’re an obsessive planner like me, being within walking distance of the places you intend to go and things you intend to do (as well as the tube stations on the lines you’re most likely to use) factor heavily into any decisions.
Location made Hazlitt’s Hotel in Soho the ideal place to stay on my summer 2022 Harry Potter-themed vacation. Located just a block from the Palace Theatre where Harry Potter and the Cursed Child plays, a couple blocks from Cutter & Squidge where we’d booked a wizard-themed afternoon tea, and just a couple of blocks from House of MinaLima where we’d planned to do lots of Harry Potter souvenir shopping, Hazlitt’s put us in easy walking distance from many a magical itinerary item. Regardless of what you’re traveling to London for, though, Hazlitt’s is an excellent choice for any visit to the UK’s capital.
Hazlitt’s is a quiet refuge in the heart of a lively and bustling Soho district. Occupying a handful of Georgian townhouses on Frith Street, between the iconic Soho Square and Old Compton Street, this small boutique hotel with its few dozen rooms and suites puts you short and simple strolls from a host of West End theatres, Leicester Square, Oxford and Regent Streets, Covent Garden, Piccadilly Circus and countless other London Landmarks. Its closest underground station is Tottenham Court Road, giving you access to the Central Line, Northern Line, and newly-opened Elizabeth Line.
The area around Soho is, as mentioned, lively and bustling – there are bars, nightclubs, and 24hr coffee shops. People flock to Soho from around London on Friday and Saturday nights, and even weeknights have crowds flowing out of night spots and on to the sidewalk. The stretch of bars and nightclubs thankfully ends a couple doors away from Hazlitt’s though, so the hotel isn’t quite caught up in the midst of all the madness – something we were certainly grateful for when staying there. Once inside the front door, and especially when up in our 3rd floor room, we couldn’t hear any noise from the streets below and were cocooned in our spacious suite with its sitting area, plush furnishings, ornate bed, and medley of antique furnishing and décor.
Exterior view of Hazlitt’s Hotel on Frith St. in Soho
Google Streetview gives you a good idea of just how unassuming Hazlitt’s exterior is when facing its front door on Frith St. Cafes, bars, restaurants, nightclubs and pubs can be busy and bustling just a few doors down, while Hazlitt’s discreetly stands by as a quiet refuge in Soho.
For folks hoping for a bit of old-world charm when visiting London (as many of us coming from across the pond often are), Hazlitt’s is a treasure. Rooms, suites, and common spaces are packed full of antiques (or antique-looking) furnishings and decorations; the artwork on the walls and fabrics framing windows or covering cushions and mattresses are ornate and fit well with the Georgian aesthetic, while never being gaudy or over the top. Everything looks and feels period, without being tired or worn down.
One of many stairwells throughout Hazlitt’s
Several Georgian townhouses were combined to make up the entire 30-room hotel and Hazlitt’s narrow halls and creaky stairwells not only add to the atmosphere, but showcase artwork, house small writing nooks, and are laid out in such a way we never once passed by other guests when walking to and from our room.
This tasteful, antique-chic look extends to the bathrooms, and is perhaps most evident in them. Our bathroom had swan’s head faucets, an intricately-carved wooden throne for the… throne… and a centerpiece bathtub/shower with exposed pipes and knobs and dials that looked like they very well could have been used by Theresa Cornelys – the 18th century figure after whom our suite was named – herself.
Indeed, all of Hazlitt’s rooms are named after historical figures with actual ties to the buildings Hazlitt’s occupies, or land upon which it sits. Your room will have a name, not a number, and it’s evident our suite wasn’t just named after Theresa Cornelys, but was designed with her in mind with its goldleaf and scarlets and velvets and other boudoir tones.
Returning to Hazlitt’s after our days out in the city or nights out on the town – and returning to our magnificent suite, in particular – was an occasion.
Hazlitt’s isn’t a full-service hotel, and there’s no restaurant or gym on site. Indeed, you don’t really feel like you’re staying at a hotel at all while at Hazlitt’s – you feel like you’re at home. That’s not just travel review hyperbole or cliché, either. The lack of pronounced signage outside makes you feel almost as if you’re living on Frith St. in Soho as you come and go, or like you’re in on a little secret as you step in and out of the unassuming green door; the common lounge spaces are cozy and offer a homely atmosphere, well-appointed and never crowded.. As any home needs, there’s even a pet! We were graced with the presence of Sir Godrey the Hazlitt’s house cat on our visit, though he’s sadly since passed (he was quite old at the time); today’s guests can look forward to finding themselves in the company of Hazlitt’s newest feline host, Jasper.
Those common spaces arenʻt just for aesthetics but are genuinely pleasant places to spend time and enjoy yourself. They’re extensions of your room, really, serving as an optional living and lounging space with the entirety of Soho being your kitchen. It being a small boutique hotel, common spaces were never crowded during our stay and the layout and maze of hallways and staircases had us seldom ever see another guest at all. Even if you donʻt opt for a suite or junior suite and book one of the individually decorated, unique single or double rooms you can still stretch out in the lounges throughout the hotel, treat yourself to a cocktail, and take in your surroundings.
Beyond the honor bars in the lounges and mini bars in the rooms, Hazlitt’s other food and drink offerings are limited to breakfast delivered to your room each morning, if you choose. From bacon sandwiches to yogurts, parfaits, selections of breads and pastries and other “continental” options. While you’re limited in what you can get, it’s all delicious once you get it and is all more than enough to get your day started well.
Hazlitt’s need not have a kitchen or offer up anymore in on-site dining, though – you’re in the middle of Soho! Hazlitt’s surrounding area is such a seamless part of the hotel, really, and you’re perfectly placed to easily take advantage of all the surrounding area and London itself has to offer – dozens of restaurants and pubs are within easy walking distance, as are cafes and bakeries and more.
I’m not exaggerating when I say Hazlitt’s changed what had been a decades’ long approach to hotel booking for me, and left me seeking out smaller, independent boutique hotels first and foremost over major corporate hotels on subsequent travel. No doubt, the big chains have their benefits – you can often expect some consistency to the experience across brands, points can be earned then cashed in for stays, loyalty and status bring perks, the big chains will have relationships you can leverage and take advantage of with airlines and more. Our stay at Hazlitt’s really opened my eyes to what we might be missing out on when I start my lodging searches on the Marriott or Hilton websites, though.
As someone who avoids AirBnB for various reasons, Hazlitt’s offered what some fans of a service like that might enjoy so much – a unique place to stay with atmosphere and character, that genuinely feels comfy and cozy and like home, but with the added bonus of the kind of personalized service and pampering only a hotel could offer.
The entire hotel is so thoughtfully appointed and so unique that it does make you feel special for simply being there. Staff (front desk and housekeeping, and not only the cat!) were always very friendly, accommodating and helpful. As much thought went into the layout of the room we stayed in as went into the decor - it was spacious and had ample storage, plenty of outlets, good air conditioning, comfortable bedding, and so on; it was evident Hazlitt’s puts a great deal of effort and energy into both form and function. I could not recommend Hazlitt’s more highly, and urge you to check them out for your next London holiday – get in on the secret! And say hi to Jasper while there!
TIP: We found Hazlitt’s through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and did use Chase Ultimate Rewards points to book this stay, but on subsequent stays I’ve found Booking.com to be a great resource to find independent boutique hotels even if I don’t book through the aggregation site and choose to book direct with the property instead. Booking.com’s map feature is a handy way to compare and contrast hotels in a particular area, but I’m inclined to then at least check out a hotel’s own website to see what rates they’re offering to actually reserve my stay. I can’t help but think fewer things can go wrong when you leave a third party out of it (such as being assigned the wrong room at check-in), and with independent boutique hotels in particular I’d rather as much of my money as possible went to them.
Hazlitt’s Hotel, 6 Frith Street, London, W1D 3JA
Our stay was in early June, 2022 and paid for using Chase Ultimate Rewards points to book a Junior Suite category room, which ended up being the Theresa Cornelys Suite.
