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The Culpeper (the pub) is among east London’s most gorgeous boozers. Tall ceilings, vast windows onto Commercial Street, an extraordinary wraparound bar and – in the warmer months – one of the city’s great rooftops. The highest praise one can heap upon the Culpeper’s boutique hotel, therefore, is that it is a more than worthy accompaniment to its downstairs boozer.
The Culpeper’s boutique hotel is neatly slotted into a four-floor Victorian pub that opened under its current name in 2014. The five rooms are all on the second floor – to regular pub-goers, that’s two floors above the pub, one above the restaurant and one below the rooftop. The restaurant’s ethos and décor continues to its rooms, which are shabby-chic in a very design-led, sustainable, waste-free sort of way.
Even after being open for a decade, there’s an endearing familiarity to arriving at the Culpeper. You wander through an exceedingly pretty pub, pick up your keys at the restaurant’s booking desk, climb steep creaky stairs and head down a winding corridor to the rooms.
What are the rooms like at The Culpeper?
Like all great boutique hotels, staying at The Culpeper is like having discovered a secret, like being somewhere you shouldn’t really be – in this case, delightful rooms hidden away in a pub in prime E1.
As downstairs, the room décor is shabby-chic with washed walls and ceilings, rugged furnishings and doors of various pleasing squeaks. The harsher features – a chunk of oak for a headboard, another hunk as a bedside table – are softened by sheepskin rugs, Acapulco chairs and a pleasing match-up of zig-zags on the throw, pillowcase and carpet. There was so much charm in the houseplants and pile of coffee table books, are very on-brand for a conscientious business in east London: Spitalfields Nippers, The Gentle Author’s London Album, London Coffee.
But the room is also smart where it matters and luxurious in the details. Interior design choices aside, a bottle of sustainably filtered Belu water sits on the fireplace and diddy Dudson mugs service a Nespresso machine. A very decent shower boasts posh Bramley hand, body and hair washes.
My room looks out onto roaring Commercial Street, offering views out towards Liverpool Street, Hoxton and the Aldgate skyscraper cluster, but thanks to double glazing and blackout curtains the audial and visual din is very, very faint.
What are the facilities like at The Culpeper?
‘Everything you need and nothing you don’t’ is the hotel’s ethos – don’t come here expecting gyms, swimming pools, conference rooms etc. That said, if you consider an on-site pub, rooftop venue and restaurant ‘facilities’, then this has you sorted. More on that below.
Inside your room, the amenities are bare but useful: TV, fan, heater, umbrella, wi-fi, rainshower, vast bed and plush duvet/pillows. All the same delicious cosy vibes and wood-y smell of a cabin in the woods, plus more than a few deluxe extras.
What is the food and restaurant like at The Culpeper?
The Culpeper is an extraordinary hotel, but it’s made even more so by its pub and restaurant. Hotel guests who book to eat at the restaurant get a free drink on arrival and then 10 percent off food and drink in both the boozer and resto.
The first-floor restaurant is its own five-star review, a French-style bistro with a small seasonal menu built around British organic produce. It’s got a fascinatingly diverse menu and powerfully fresh flavours, and it’s not too expensive, either, given the quality.
Breakfast is included in the room rate and served in sister pub/hotel the Buxton, which is just a few steps away on Osborn Street, and really high quality. Tuck into a rich selection of fruits, cheeses and meats plus chunky granola and delectable pastries, as well as coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice made to order. The elongated flakes of pain au chocolat were particularly marvellous.
What’s the area like around The Culpeper?
The Culpeper is down the Aldgate end of Commercial Street, in an area that probably just counts as Shoreditch. A few metres from Brick Lane and Petticoat Lane Market, it’s also very near Spitalfields and Hoxton. In other words, this is not an area that is short on pubs, restaurants, shops and general stuff to do.
DETAILS
Address: 40 Commercial Street, E1 6LP.
Price per night: From £185 per night (including breakfast).
Closest transport link: Within easy walking distance of Aldgate East, Aldgate, Liverpool Street and Shoreditch High Street stations.