The Exhibitionist Hotel

Tucked away off the main South Kensington artery road – Cromwell Road, a moment’s walk from the V&A Museum is South Kensington’s most recent addition to the luxury boutique hotel scene; The Exhibitionist Hotel.

What To Expect  

From the outside just another unassuming 19th-century townhouse in South Kensington but once in through the doors you are greeted with all manner of contemporary art pieces, it is an Alladin’s cave that makes you want to drop your bags immediately and start to explore the rest of the hotel.

The Exhibitionist Hotel is exactly what it says on the tin – it’s an art hotel and anyone who likes contemporary design will fall in love with its up-to-the-minute communal gallery areas. A mixture of rotating installations as well as set pieces of art including the large bull at the door mannequin standard lamp in the bar and chandeliers in the lounge area all of which are fun fun fun and we loved it.

The Rooms

The hotel has 37 rooms made up of suites, standard and ultimate rooms. We were staying in an Ultimate Luxury King With Balcony at the front of the hotel.

When we arrived check-in was quick and simple and one nice touch was the choice of in-room scents, which was taken up with us when we checked in.

The room was quite small but nicely laid out, the bed linen was to a very high standard and the limited space was used quite effectively. What made the room was the outdoor balcony which included a small seating area where I sat out drinking coffee.

The bathroom was to a very high finish, with a separate rain shower and bath. Amenities by Noble Isle (available at Harvey Nichols). I would say the finish in the bathroom was to a higher standard than the rest of the room. The rest of the room felt more like a good quality 4 star hotel, there was nothing wrong with it, but there were some scuffs here and there.

There were tea and coffee-making facilities, but no Nespresso machine, however, I did really like the selection of complimentary snacks to eat and complimentary water which were a nice little finishing touch.

I love gadgets and this is possibly one of the best I have seen in a room to date – you can access a selection of newspapers on it and it has a browser so you can get directly onto the internet which is very useful. Wifi was free across the hotel – just name and room number and you were online.

Other Parts Of The Hotel

The main draw of the hotel are the communal gallery space which are packed full of contemporary art pieces. There is no spa or gym, but being a boutique independent I wasn’t expecting them. There are 8 communal areas mainly on the ground floor with a mix of rotating and permanent pieces.

Artwork is not just limited to the ground floor, corridors also have art in them. I loved the wall art on the first floor which our room was on.

Food and Drink

We ate breakfast in the bar/restaurant area. A limited continental breakfast is available, you can add on additional hot items, I chose an omelette, which was actually really good. Continental breakfast is free and included in the room prices, hot dishes are extra.

I missed trying out the bar in the evening as we were off to an event, but the selection of cocktails looked creative and reasonably priced. There is also a full evening a la carte menu which is also quite reasonably priced given the area. Music in the public areas was Pacha Ibiza chilled house music, perfect for the type of hotel it is.

The Finances & Details

Value for money I would say it is a touch higher than what you get back in terms of luxury touches so perhaps you are paying for location over facilities, but overall a very fun hotel, with lovely staff and a great location.