Bankside Hotel, Autograph Collection – Hotel Review

Located between Blackfriars Bridge and the Southbank Centre on one of the most creative stretches of London’s River Thames, The Bankside Hotel, Autograph Collection isn’t a hotel where art is a finishing touch; it’s the whole DNA. Spread across six floors are 161 rooms and seven suites, a residential format lobby lounge, a mezzanine library and gallery, complete with a private outdoor terrace. At street level, Art Yard Bar & Kitchen serves up seasonal plates and signature cocktails. The adjoining Art Yard Maker’s Studio hosts a rotating programme of artists in residence, and a well-equipped gym sits below ground. The Luxury Editor recently checked in on a trip to London, so read on to discover more.

The property opened in 2018 and sits within Marriott’s Autograph Collection portfolio. While central luxury properties are generally built for scale, Bankside is deliberately intimate and more unusually built around a single creative idea. That idea belongs to designer Dayna Lee, whose vision for the hotel, in her own words, is “art school without the dust”, a space that reflects the vibrant mix of arts and culture that exists in the neighbourhood outside the hotel. To achieve this, she put mid-century design at its heart, drawn to the style’s love of organic shapes and contrasting materials. Not everything in the hotel dates from that period, but it all shares the same emotion and artistic alignment.

Stepping inside, any sense of the run-of-the-mill hotel lobby falls away; instead, a set of residential living spaces, grouped together with clusters of armchairs and sofas, gathered around low-profile coffee tables. Light floods in through double-height floor-to-ceiling windows, making you feel connected to the neighbourhood outside. A welcome drink comes as standard, and on that very warm London day, a chilled glass of white at check-in would have been rude to refuse.

Art and collectables flow throughout, and the lobby and gallery are where Lee’s “art school without the dust” philosophy comes to life. My eye was drawn to a bold abstract canvas depicting a crashing seascape, a bronze figure poised on a sideboard and the clusters of Paola Ponzini’s hand-thrown pots, displayed on shelves deliberately positioned to represent a potter’s clay-drying racks. Also, uniquely for a hotel, it’s a working gallery; its Makers in Residence programme runs in partnership with art agency Contemporary Collective. Guests are encouraged to drop in at their connecting Art Yard Maker’s Studio to watch the artists at work.

On the morning I was leaving, I discovered the spacious mezzanine floor, which doubles as the hotel’s library and additional gallery space. Down one side, towers of stacked books run from floor to ceiling, giving the illusion that they are propping up the ceiling, and adjacent to it, you can access the hotel’s first-floor terrace, which, on the morning I had a nosy, the sun was beating down on it, and it looked the most inviting space for a morning coffee or evening sundown cocktail.

Location

Few London hotels can offer a postcode quite as culturally rich as Bankside; the Tate Modern, Shakespeare’s Globe, the National Theatre, and the Southbank Centre, along with Borough Market, are all a short stroll away. St Paul’s sits across the water, and you can be at Covent Garden in around a twenty-minute walk. It is also very well-connected; Southwark and Blackfriars stations are minutes away on foot, connecting you to the Jubilee, District and Circle lines, along with the remarkably efficient Thameslink network, which I used to get me to Luton airport in about 40 minutes, and it can also be used to get to Gatwick in around 30 minutes.

Rooms & Suites

Being purpose-built, the 161 bedrooms and seven suites are notably more generous than many central London hotels I have stayed in. Grouped into a series of ‘collections’ starting at Modest and moving up to Deluxe, Superior (which includes a sofa bed allowing three guests to stay) and Family Collection, which includes two queen beds, culminating at their Artist and Collector suites, which stretch to a generous 41 sqm and 50 sqm respectively.

My Room During My Stay

During my stay, I was hosted in a front-facing Deluxe Room (worth asking for one as the view peeking out to the Thames and across to St Paul’s is quite special). I loved the interior design and would be quite happy with it in my own home, a polished concrete coffered ceiling overhead, walnut-toned cabinetry and a kingsized bed sits in the centre, with a slate grey throw artistically placed over one corner. Above the bed hangs a print of a yellow balconied Corbusier tower block, and across from the bed, a flat screen TV and a large writing table, with a small box of pencils and paper, offering you a moment to be artistically creative yourself. To one side of the bed, a minibar (with a host of complimentary snacks and soft drinks), a Nespresso machine, a carafe carrying a tag saying “A canvas needs paint. A guest needs water”, which can be replenished at one of the many corridor water fountains, which themselves dispense not only room temperature but also cold and sparkling water.

The bathroom is deliberately stripped back and maximises space. Tactile ribbed stone tiling on the walls, and an oval countertop basin sits on slim black legs. My eyes lit up when I saw Grown Alchemist in a bamboo caddy. The brand never disappoints, and I used it myself at home. A walk-in shower comes with a paddle and rain shower head, and keeping watch over things, a witty print of a bewigged period gentleman sporting an afro comb sits above the toilet. Outside in the wardrobe, you will find a steam iron and a Dyson hair dryer.

Art Yard Bar & Kitchen

The hotel’s social heart, Art Yard Bar & Kitchen, like the rest of the hotel, is design-driven. Timber battens line the walls. Down one side, you will see Laura Carlin’s hand-painted tiles, the work of an award-winning illustrator, who turns the everyday life of the South Bank into playful little cartoons. Underfoot, a geometric floor influenced by Italian architect Gio Ponti and above a film set-style tangle of spotlights, lights up the restaurant. On the other side, a collection of salon-style framed works, still life, and line drawings and portraits.

The food follows the seasons. The latest menu, led by chef Adam Takac, celebrates the freshness of British spring produce. I settled in for dinner and kicked things off with a cocktail. My server was great fun. I never caught her name, but she really made the night fun, so special thanks to her. We debated what cocktail would work best. I like mescal, so I ended up going for the Bankside Bloom, a long drink of mezcal, tequila and finished off with pink grapefruit juice. Then to start, the steak tartare, which I have to say was the best I have ever tasted, the beef sirloin was lifted by hints of pickled mustard seeds, guindilla peppers and finished uniquely with parmesan, a combination that worked perfectly for me. For mains, the crab ravioli was a delight, silky parcels of pasta served in a shellfish bisque with mascarpone and chive oil, finished with sea purslane and a neat dollop of white crab meat. And to finish, the pistachio tiramisu is a contemporary deconstructed play on the Italian classic. A large quenelle of pistachio cream scattered with chopped nuts and crowned with an edible viola. The meal was exciting, and the restaurant interiors draw your eye in all directions, it definitely gets this thumbs up.

For its central position, the hotel’s setting is remarkably calm, a small pocket tucked away from the throng of tourists visiting the capital. Post-dinner, I took a stroll along the Thames, watching the moon rise above and the glow of building lights shimmering across the water. As I circled back to the hotel, buskers were out, and the riverside bars and restaurants were gently humming with customers enjoying a rare moment of late-night heat and revelry.

Breakfast

Next morning, after a thoroughly good sleep, I went down for breakfast. Served in Art Yard & Bar, the buffet-style selection is complemented by a menu of additional hot cooked items which can be ordered at an additional cost. However, the buffet is extremely comprehensive, and you will struggle not to find something you like.

Gym and Fitness

On Level B2, there is a well-equipped 24-hour fitness centre with Peloton Bike, cross-ramp machines, power rack, treadmills, exercise bike and balance trainers. However, as I was staying on one of the hottest days of the year, I donned my running shoes, and I enjoyed exploring the pedestrianised bliss of the South Bank.

Final Thoughts

This is a hotel with genuine personality, and it really is one of the most exciting and unique branded properties in central London. Its boutique scale and attention to detail make it a winner for any upcoming stay in the capital.