Located on the trendy fringes of the Square Mile, among the offices in Finsbury Square, the latest branch of the Montcalm group is clearly aimed at a distinctly sharp-suited, business-before-pleasure crowd. But the team behind The Montcalm have pulled off no mean feat – their latest establishment oozes the luxury and class demanded by a corporate clientele, without sacrificing style or charisma.
A large part of this is down to the friendliness and warmth of the staff, who look genuinely excited to be working in this brand-new hotel. Champagne was offered on arrival in the teal-coloured, parquet-floored foyer. Fruit and chocolates were waiting upstairs. If the room wasn’t particularly big, then it was certainly cosy, with prints of 1930s Hoxton hanging on the walls. A slick mood lighting system sent the room through a rainbow of colours. A bedside Android phone offered free calls abroad.
Disappointingly, the hotel’s spa wasn’t yet open when we stayed. But after a chat with the front desk, they promptly packed us into a cab. One five-minute journey later, we were at their sister hotel in Shoreditch. Here, they have a pool and jacuzzi, and an adjoining spa, steam room and 'chillax' room (for when the heat gets the better of you) – all low-lit, decorated with Grecian tiles and ever-so-slightly decadent. Ambient music trills blissfully throughout. Back at The Montcalm, a peek through the building work promised much of the same, with a Versace-tiled pool, sauna, steam room and two treatment rooms, along with a fitness room.
The ground-floor restaurant Burdock offers well-thought-out large and small plates of stuff – pork belly, spatchcocked partridge – as well as bar snacks like Croque-Monsieurs: the perfect sort of thing to order to your room. It was a shame the ace-in-the-hole, the rooftop Aviary restaurant, was also yet to open. But the manager took me up to the ninth floor, and I got to see the panorama: east London on one side, the gleaming towers of the City on the other. The views pretty much sum up this place: slick, cosmopolitan and just a little spectacular.
Time Out tip
When it’s just a ten-minute walk away, the Barbican makes the perfect place to work up an appetite before dinner. Take a stroll along its concrete walkways and see an exhibition, film, or free performance in the foyer space, then head back to Burdock or The Aviary for an aperitif.