This guesthouse-cum-gallery is like nothing I have ever seen before

Telegraph

03-05-2025

I spotted 8 Holland Street Townhouse on Instagram. I was keen to check it out but while its looks were instantly appealing, its name – ostensibly an obvious clue as to its address – was misleading.
'I've booked into a new guesthouse in Bath called 8 Holland Street,' I messaged my sister, Caroline, who lives in the city.
'You can't have. There's no Holland Street in Bath' she texted back.
'There absolutely is; I'm staying there next week.'
'There absolutely isn't. You aren't, you poor old trout.'
We were both right and both wrong: there is no Holland Street in Bath and yet I was indeed staying there. 8 Holland Street, which comprises a gallery and design store as well as a guesthouse above, is in fact found at 23 Brock Street, just off the Royal Crescent, but it takes its name from its sister store, located at 8 Holland Street in Kensington (there is a second flagship London store in Queen Anne's Gate). Eventually, we unravelled the puzzle and all became clear.
In a street full of appealing interiors shops, 8 Holland is a design store that looks like a gallery with the feel of a very stylish private home. Modern art mixes with mid-20th-century furniture, lighting, rugs and objects made in Britain, Italy, Scandinavia and elsewhere while sofas, vases of flowers, books and magazines lend a domestic air.
Like his London stores, it's the creation of owner Tobias Vernon and on the floors above, this eclectic shop turns into something I have never seen before: the furniture and art on display morph into three wonderful guest bedrooms and bathrooms, plus a sitting room and kitchen for breakfast in the morning. They are beautifully furnished but their looks are constantly, subtly changing because everything is (discreetly ­– no prices) for sale.
Can't live without that Howard Hodgkin screen print in your bedroom, or that Ben Nicholson drawing? It's yours. Fallen for that wonderful abstract Sixties rug in the bathroom, the lamp shaped like a windmill that Tobias found on Etsy, the Cristal Arte mirror or the Fifties Italian curved sofa?
Pop downstairs and have a word with the two women, both called Emily ('the Emilies') who look after the guesthouse and the gallery. 'Some guests, those particularly interested in design or perhaps designers themselves, want to know everything about the things in the Townhouse – what they are, where they came from and how much they cost. Others don't ask or buy: hopefully, they just think it's a nice place to stay in Bath,' says Tobias.
That's me. More than nice. 'I want to live here,' I said, as I was ushered into the kitchen with its punchy David Shrigley posters, Vitsoe display shelving and large island, and living room (honesty bar, complementary wine, record player, lots of books) and then to my huge suite (No 1; £420 per night). There are three rooms in all, two large suites and one small but delightful en suite bedroom (£220).
My bathroom, with its blue Peggy Angus wallpaper, deep free-standing tub and Cristal Arte mirror was particularly divine. Attention to detail is second to none: black and white striped towels by Tekla; organic toiletries by father and daughter Austen Austen; bath salts and Moro Dabron eau de toilette; Swedish bedding from Magniberg on Naturalmat beds.
It all feels like a home, albeit a considered one, and not remotely like a gallery or shop. Tobias, who studied art history at Cambridge before becoming an interior designer and inveterate collector, opening the first 8 Holland Street to market his wide-ranging auction finds, believes that homeliness and comfort are as important as stylishness.
He sites Endsleigh, Tresanton and Ett Hem in Stockholm as three of his favourite hotels. Mine too. I feel totally relaxed but also inspired here and don't want to leave.
It's so civilised. Breakfast, Scandinavian style (cold meat, cheese, fruit) is served between 9 and 10am (earlier on request) by two charming Bath university students, Alisha and Arinzé. For dinner, Tobias and 'the Emilies' recommend Upstairs at Landrace (modern British, part of a bakery) in Walcot Street; Oak (plant-based) in North Parade; and the Beckford Canteen (modern British) in Bartlett Street.
Caroline and I had a terrific dinner at the latter, first pausing at the Beckford Bottle Shop for a glass of wine and moreish anchovy toasts.
Bath, as we strolled home to both 23 Brock and 8 Holland Street, was at its best: elegant and animated under a full moon.