Listening to ‘Ding Dong Merrily on High’ on the radio after a relaxing soak is a merry prospect indeed when you’re staying at the luxury boutique Spitalfields hotel, Batty Langley’s, on the run-up to Christmas, and particularly if residing in the Kitty Fisher penthouse suite, one of only 29 individually-designed rooms. Kitty Fisher boasts a spacious marble bathroom featuring stained glass windows and an authentic Victorian ‘bathing machine’ with copper tub and canopied shower. Apply the heavenly-scented Land and Water products liberally, safe in the knowledge that fluffy white towels and monogrammed robes await.
The well-appointed suite takes its name from the famous 18th century courtesan, best remembered for being the subject of the nursery rhyme, ‘Lucy Locket’; “Lucy Locket lost her pocket, Kitty Fisher found it; Not a penny was there in it, Only ribbon round it.” As luxurious as any accommodation in London, the traditionally-styled chamber with teal blue walls is opulently furnished with paintings and antiques, along with your own personal library. The fit-for-a-King mahogany four poster bed is adorned with silk damask curtains and dressed with the finest Egyptian cotton, while in addition to the flatscreen TV (with a media hub allowing you to connect to your own devices) concealed behind a mirror opposite the bed, there is a second cleverly disguised set in the sitting room, where you’ll discover the well-stocked mini bar.
You won’t find that most British of items, a kettle, for the hotel’s complimentary tea and coffee service, speedily delivered on blue and white Burleigh china, is a welcoming touch illustrative of the old-fashioned service you can expect when staying here, and befitting your suite-resident status. The problem is, you won’t know whether to take tea in your room or one of the beautiful hotel lounges such as the elegant ‘Tapestry Lounge’, cosy ‘Library’ with 3,500 books, or in the pretty courtyard garden, weather permitting. Batty Langley’s doesn’t have a restaurant, but they do offer a delightful room service menu featuring classic British dishes, while you’ll be spoiled for choice if dining out. Within just a few minutes’ stroll is the 1 Michelin star French fine dining restaurant, Galvin La Chapelle, next door neighbour to its informal sister, Galvin Bistrot and Bar, whose heated terrace takes on a picturesque Alpine feel in winter, with sheepskin throws and cheerful red check blankets. Having to ring a bell to be readmitted to Batty Langley’s reminds you just how special this hotel is, exclusive in its cosseting intimacy.
Although a cloudless and bright November day on our first morning, we were determined to enjoy our room service breakfast at the table for two on the Kitty Fisher balcony, clad in thick woollens. With coffee cups in hand and bagels with smoked salmon before us, we smugly observed the poor office workers staring at computer screens inside the several skyscrapers just ahead. An architectural style contrasting starkly with the Georgian gentility of Batty Langley’s and the historic Folgate Street on which the hotel is situated, the balcony offered us a unique vantage point of how the ‘progress’ of the past hundred years has encroached on this area which, standing just outside the ancient walls of the City of London, now affords today’s visitor a spectacularly diverse horizon.
Paying a call on the Dennis Severs’ House, the hotel’s extraordinary neighbour, grants visitors an intoxicating glimpse into the lives of past Folgate Street residents. Each carefully curated room depicts a different period in the history of an imaginary Huguenot family of silk weavers and fortunately our Batty Langley’s stay coincided with the first ‘Silent Night’ experience of the festive season. Commanding visitors to put away their mobiles and cameras and seal their lips whilst wandering through this wonderfully preserved 18th century residence, the fact that visitors are not busy taking content for their socials makes it an intense and evocative experience to be treasured in memory alone. Purchased by Dennis Severs in 1979 in a derelict condition after the Spitalfields Trust saved the house from being demolished, to think of a concrete high rise standing in its place will almost make you weep with gratitude. A cross between live art and theatre staging rather than a museum, nothing can prepare your senses for a dwelling entirely lit by candles and firelight, while the exquisitely detailed still life scenes including one replicating a Hogarth painting to the last detail, make you feel as though the family have just left the room.
The Dennis Severs House
The intoxication of both Dennis Severs’ and Batty Langley’s is heightened by perusing the now cosmopolitan Old Spitalfields Market, built in 1876 and considered one of the finest surviving Victorian market halls. Uniting the past and present under its roof, a hub of trendy independent shops and fashion boutiques, along with an impressive array of global food stalls, have made it a destination for tourists, foodies and shoppers – most of whom are oblivious to the fact that there has been a market on this site for 350 years. While fruit and vegetables are now traded in the New Spitalfields Market in Leyton, dear Old Spitalfields host daily markets in the spirit of their trading history, including a weekly Antiques Market offering a cornucopia of wares that will hopefully enable a new generation to realise that unexpected finds are always the most treasured. Much like hotels.
The close proximity to Old Spitalfields from the hotel made our winter break all the more relaxing, for who would want to venture far from such a suite? As an exercise in Uriah Heep-style humbleness, Batty Langley’s is fit to make Scrooge’s famous Christmas morning turkey-buying epiphany strike a chord, like only the haves towards the have-nots can experience, especially If you checked in following a visit to the Charles Dickens Museum on Doughty Street. Dressed for the festive season with a Victorian-inspired Christmas tree, imitation of the aforementioned turkey and new copies of the author’s most famous work, A Christmas Carol, on sale in the gift shop, it’s just the book for reading in the comfort of one’s four poster. That said, you may well find yourself uttering Scrooge’s immortal ‘bah humbug’ come departure time and, rather than generously buying poultry for the poor, opt to save your pennies in miserly fashion in order to hasten a return stay.
Batty Langley’s, 12 Folgate St, London E1 6BX. For more information please see the website.
Image of Dennis Severs’ House by Lucinda Douglas Menzies.
