Mason & Fifth Westbourne Park review: London's first urban resort

Times

2 days ago

Built on the site of the former London Taxi Drivers' Association HQ, the latest offering from Mason & Fifth is a stylish, admirably ambitious venture. Not quite a city hotel and not quite an apartment complex, M&F Westbourne Park is something in between, a viable option for longer-term guests as much as transient tourists. Much bigger than its Bermondsey and Primrose Hill outposts, this west London site, overlooking the Grand Union Canal, has more than 320 rooms that can be rented by the night or the month, as well as various studio and office spaces that it leases to artists and small businesses. The vibe is young, fresh and creative, with the lobby more laptop and kombucha than comfy shoes and afternoon tea.
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Score 7/10This is a vast complex and it can take a while to work out how you get from one part of the hotel to another. When you do locate your room, you'll find a continuation of the modern, muted aesthetic that runs through the building. It's all very calm, with a gentle embrace of earth tones, original art on the walls, the odd industrial flourish and simple, high-quality furnishings. The Hypnos beds are supremely comfortable (with quality linen), but tend to be squashed up against the window at the end of long, tube-like rooms. Bathrooms are small, with excellent showers and bespoke products from Evolve, and all but the smaller Out and About rooms come with kitchen facilities. There are no phones in the rooms, so you'll need to download an app to ask how the TV works.
Score 8/10The very good Canal restaurant is a bright, open affair, with a mix of long communal and private tables as well as terrace seating next to the water. This stretch of the Grand Union is not especially scenic (no offence to the back of Westbourne Park bus garage), but it's still a pleasant spot in which to enjoy a preprandial cocktail — try the gentle, slightly sweet old fashioned, made with brown butter-infused bourbon. The food is punchy modern European, with the chef Adrian Hernandez bringing plenty of energy and love to plates of charred courgettes with rich, creamy stracciatella; hefty beef tartare served with pickled walnuts and homemade crisps; and cracking little doughnuts stuffed with Brixham crab. There are no cooked breakfasts, but you can buy outstanding pastries and good coffee in the lobby lounge.
Score 9/10There's a lot going on at M&F, as you might expect at a place of this size, with open, communal spaces scattered throughout. A listening lounge is stocked with records and a snazzy cinema room shows films chosen by guest curators. The hotel's wellness suite, the Grounding, includes a nice pool, sauna and steam room, and a small, functional treatment room where you can get physio or a massage (treatments from £55 for 30 minutes). There is also a reasonably sized gym with Technogym equipment and a studio for yoga and movement classes. Changing rooms are unisex but bafflingly devoid of private spots to change, beyond the shower cubicles, so make sure your towel game is on point. There are also bicycles to borrow (bring your own helmet).
Score 8/10With Portobello Road ten minutes' stroll one way and Little Venice about 20 minutes the other, M&F is in many ways at the heart of the gentrified capital. However, should you tire of the rhubarb gimlets at Canal, there's a belting Irish pub, Angie's, selling good Guinness for less than a fiver down the street. Westbourne Park Tube station is just round the corner, giving quick access to central London.
Price Room-only doubles from £170Restaurant Mains from £16Family-friendly YAccessible YDog-friendly Y
Mike Atkins was a guest of Mason & Fifth (mason-fifth.com)