UK bound? This apartment-hotel make the most of London’s best sights

Locke at Broken Wharf, Millennium Bridge, London – a design-led apartment hotel with fantastic location, next to the River Thames and walking distance to St Paul’s, Tate Modern, South Bank and many other of London’s best sites.
OPINION
After the long journey from New Zealand to London, you’ll need a comfortable place to stay, with a location to help make the most of the city’s best sights. This one ticks all the boxes, writes Stephanie Holmes
Location: By Millennium Bridge on the north side of the river Thames, and close to St Paul’s Cathedral
Style: Modern, design-led apartment hotel
Price: From GBP130 per night (NZ$277) to GBP220 (NZ$470) per night, depending on room size.
Perfect for: Basing yourself in Central London for a few days exploring, close to some of the biggest and best tourist attractions the capital has to offer
READ MORE: How to spend three days in London if you’ve never been before
First impressions: We arrived, crumpled, disoriented and probably just a little bit smelly, after the mammoth journey from Auckland to the other side of the world. We were immediately struck by the fantastic location – steps away from Millennium Bridge, with St Paul’s to the right, and just across the river, the Tate Modern and the South Bank.
The lobby space was full of comfortable yet designer furniture – sofas and chairs and space for remote working, as well as a coffee shop called Frequency.
We were checked in by a helpful front desk worker, who swiftly became my best friend when she told us our room was ready early (we’d prepared ourselves for a few more hours of festering in our flight clothes). We paid our outstanding balance, signed the waiver to be able to use the 24/7 gym, then headed to the elevators to take us to our room on the sixth (top) floor.
Rooms: There are 113 rooms in this serviced apartment-style hotel. Our river view apartment was one of the hotel’s biggest, and although still a compact space – 30sq m – it was cleverly laid out, making the most of the curved outer wall to fit in everything you need. There was a comfortable king-size bed, modular sofa, full kitchen, small dining area, and windows looking out to the river Thames – it’d be hard to beat this view of London. The walls and ceiling were painted a uniform pistachio green, with modern light fixtures and wall-mounted TV. A free-standing wardrobe and clothes rail, plus a built-in shelf behind the bed, offered a place to unpack our belongings and make ourselves at home. Take note though, there’s nowhere to store large suitcases out of sight and only a few clothes hangers supplied.
The kitchen is equipped with just enough for self-catering, although you’ll need to buy basics like cooking oil, salt and pepper, etc.
Other rooms range from 19sq m for a micro studio, to 33sq m for the accessible suite.
Bathroom: Split across two spaces, there’s a rainfall shower and basin in one room to the left of the bed, then the toilet in what is essentially a cupboard to the right. If you’re on a romantic break with a new partner, be aware the cupboard is not sound-proof and is only centimetres from the bed. The romance could disappear quite quickly.
The shower has wall-mounted Kinsey Apothecary toiletries, a bespoke brand created for all Locke properties, with a divine Salted Caramel fragrance for the shampoo and conditioner, and Himalayan hibiscus for the body wash.
Food and drink: The lobby coffee bar Frequency serves drinks, cabinet food, breakfast and brunch. Coffee beans are ethically and sustainably sourced and roasted in a state-of-the-art facility at Tate Britain.
In the rooms, a couple of coffee bags and tea bags are supplied, with a small bottle of milk, but you’ll need to buy anything else you need to self-cater. That’s no problem in London of course, there are Tesco Express, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose stores in walking distance, as well as all the restaurants, cafes, bars and fast food outlets London has to offer.
Facilities: Super-fast Wi-Fi is free throughout the hotel and is well-used by guests, as well as non-residents utilising the lobby co-working space. There’s a guest laundry and a well-equipped gym. Events like yoga classes, book swaps and wine tastings are held regularly. Rooms come with smart TVs with Chromecasts so you can stream your own media, and plenty of USB charging ports, hairdryers, ironing boards and iron.
In the neighbourhood: This is the perfect location for exploring London, with Cannon Street, Bank, and Mansion House Tube stations all less than 10 minutes walk away, as well as bus stops at St Paul’s. Walk across Millennium Bridge to Tate Modern, Shakespeare’s Globe and Borough Market.
Family-friendly: Rooms are compact and mostly only sleep two, except for the accessible studios which can accommodate a single fold-up bed if you’re travelling as a couple with one child. This room type (and the River View Apartment) comes with washer/dryer, so you don’t need to use the basement guest laundry.
Accessibility: The entire property is wheelchair accessible, with studios available equipped with all the necessary accessible apartment facilities.
Sustainability: There are LED lightbulbs throughout the property, with motion sensor-controlled smart lighting in public areas. Taps and showerheads are water efficient, and all chemicals used on site are eco-friendly. The property was given an “excellent” certification in the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) sustainable buildings’ programme, and an Energy Performance Certificate rating of B.
Contact: Lockeliving.com – here you’ll find details of Broken Wharf, as well as the five other Locke properties in London, and others across the UK (Cambridge, Manchester, Edinburgh) and Europe (Lisbon, Zurich, Berlin, Munich, Dublin, Paris).