HART SHOREDITCH: A LONDON HOTEL WITH A MAKER’S TOUCH
Handcrafted details, contemporary art and a lively pan-Asian restaurant give this Great Eastern Street hotel a character rooted in East London.
The most revealing object in a hotel room is rarely the television. At Hart Shoreditch, it might be the water carafe. Made by ceramic artist Will Martin for the hotel’s 2023 London Design Festival exhibition, these handmade vessels have become part of everyday life upstairs. Guests refill them from filtered-water stations along the corridors. A useful object, made by an artist, doing a job: it is a small detail that says quite a lot about Hart’s approach to hospitality.
On Great Eastern Street, the hotel takes its name from the Hart family of cabinetmakers who worked here in the nineteenth century. That history gives the interiors a starting point, with craftsmanship running through the building’s design and its ongoing collaborations with artists and makers. Opened in 2020 and part of Hilton’s Curio Collection, Hart has 126 rooms, a restaurant, a lobby bar and spaces that accommodate everything from workshops to screenings.
Its strongest feature is the way these elements connect. The design tells you something about the neighbourhood; the cultural programme introduces people working in it today.
Fabled Studio drew on East London’s silk weavers, furniture makers and industrial past to create interiors rich in texture. Worked copper, plaster finishes and carefully chosen timber give the spaces depth. The sculptural staircase, made from steel rebar and copper, is the obvious showpiece, while mahogany box lights reference the cabinetmakers’ craft. There is enough detail to reward a second look without turning the lobby into a history lesson.
Upstairs, the rooms carry that interest in materials into a calmer setting. Leather headboards, warm metallic accents and textured walls soften the geometry of the furniture. The palette is restrained, with colour introduced through upholstery and smaller details. Great Eastern Street is a busy address, so this change of mood matters.
Room choice deserves some attention. The entry-level Queen Guest Rooms average 17 square metres, while King Superior rooms offer around 27. The 30-square-metre King Skylight Suite adds high ceilings and natural light; the top-floor One Bedroom Suite provides considerably more room at 55 square metres. For a weekend with time to linger upstairs, that extra space could be a worthwhile investment. The practical details include Marshall speakers, mini fridges, Soapsmith toiletries and those ceramic carafes.
The art programme gives Hart another reason to keep returning. Previous collaborators include 2LG Studio, James Daw and Rosie Reed Gold, with exhibitions sitting alongside workshops and other events. During September’s London Design Festival, contemporary urban artist Mali Mowcka created Sanctum of Renewal inside UBA, the hotel’s restaurant. Handcrafted wooden forms and translucent resin petals descended from the ceiling, drawing on the Japanese concept of yūgen: a beauty that reveals itself through attentive observation. It was an ambitious use of a dining room, allowing art to become part of the space rather than something confined to its walls.
That willingness to make room for creativity extends beyond festival week. Hart’s programme includes making, wellness and cultural events, with autumn listings ranging from watercolour and flower-arranging workshops to candle making and film screenings. Check what is on before booking: the chance to learn something or meet a local maker adds another dimension to a London stay.
UBA supplies the evening’s change of pace. Designed by architecture and interiors studio Verhaal, the restaurant brings together red velvet banquettes, lava-stone tabletops, antique mirrors and a statement marble bar. Red and gold give the room a richer, more theatrical character than the hotel’s quieter spaces, with counter seating offering an alternative to a conventional dinner table.
The current menu moves between sushi, dim sum, hirata buns and robata dishes. There is Korean fried chicken with honey-kimchi dressing, rock-shrimp-style tempura with furikake and kimchi mayonnaise, and miso black cod with chilli, lime and yuzu. Vegetable options include mushroom yakisoba and miso aubergine. It is a menu suited to ordering across the table and letting dinner take its time, with cocktails and weekend DJ sessions extending the social mood into the lobby bar.
Hart’s location makes it easy to spend much of the day on foot. Brick Lane and Spitalfields offer markets, vintage shops and plenty of opportunities to abandon whatever route you had planned. Head towards Columbia Road for its independent shops and Sunday flower market, or visit the Museum of the Home on Kingsland Road for another perspective on the domestic objects and interiors that interest the hotel’s designers. Old Street provides a straightforward connection to the rest of London.
This is a hotel whose appeal rests on design, food and its relationship with the streets around it. There is a gym with round-the-clock access, while the wellness programme brings in experiences such as sound healing. The real pleasure, though, is the sense that making things still matters here: in the lighting, in the art, in the object beside your bed.
A handmade carafe is a modest place to begin a hotel story. At Hart, it is a fitting one.
Hart Shoreditch, 61–67 Great Eastern Street, London EC2A 3HU. The hotel’s 2026 advertised lead-in rate is £207 per night, room only; rates vary by date. hartshoreditch.com.
