A LONDON STAYCATION AT L'OSCAR
IN ONE LINE
A 5 star boutique hotel with sultry interiors, housed in a former church, amidst the hustle and bustle of Holborn.
ABOUT
Built at the turn of the 20th century in a style know as "Edwardian Free Baroque", number 2 Southampton Row originally housed the London headquarters of the Baptist Church. After closing it’s doors to churchgoers in the 1960’s, ownership of the building changed hands a few times before finally undergoing a 6 year renovation to open as L’Oscar Hotel in 2019.
With almost theatrically plush interiors, L’Oscar has an indulgent ambiance which surely would have appealed to namesake Oscar Wilde (and perhaps shocked the previous godly tenants). Parisian designer Jacques Garcia has created a lavish world adorned with layers of velvet, gold, fringing and rich tones. All punctuated by the repeating theme of birds and feathers.
Service is personal and attentive and the mood is glamorous with a hint of a mischievous sense of humour.
OUR ROOM
With just 39 bedrooms, L’Oscar feels boutique and quiet and each room is very different in it’s size and design- in part thanks to the strict heritage rules of the building which meant the team had to work around certain oddities of shape and restrictions. We stayed in a junior suite on the 4th floor with a peacock feather headboard that again mirrored Jacques Garcia’s chosen motif for the hotel. The room was lovely and peaceful with a cocooning feel but still plenty of space to spread out in. The marble bathroom was large and well executed, featuring bespoke his & her toiletries. We felt the overall mood was perfect for a romantic weekend stay.
FOOD & DRINK
With interiors inspired by the oldest café in Venice, the L’Oscar restaurant provides a very glamorous backdrop for hotel guests to dine. From breakfast to lunch, afternoon tea and dinner. The L’Oscar restaurant is the buzziest part of the hotel and we found staff here to be professional and passionate. For our dinner date the menu was Italian inspired and had a good range with an equally good cocktail menu.
The Bapstist Bar - which was sadly closed during our visit- is housed in the church’s former chapel and gives guests a vivid reminder of the original occupants of the building as they sip cocktails beneath the domed ceiling.
THE AREA
Whilst Holborn isn’t the most beautiful of London neighbourhoods it is a perfectly central spot for getting to all the tourist-essentail locations. Bloomsbury, theatre-land and the buzz of Covent Garden only a short stroll away. Some of our favourites in the area that are worth adding to your itinerary include Sir John Soane Museum, Fabrique bakey, The British Museum, The Ship Tavern and Santa Nata.
THE HIGHS & LOWS
H: Service. We really felt like the staff there were dedicated to providing good service and everyone we met felt genuine and helpful, like professionals rather than folk who were just clocking on to do a job.
L: We had to stretch our minds a little to come up with the lows for L’Oscar as our stay went quite smoothly but we would say that there was a few safety lights in the bedroom that proved quite bright for sleeping, so pack your eye mask! It would have also been lovely to have a view from our window, unforuntately it was quite high with a balcony blocking most of it but we could see the tops of the trees so it wasn’t all bad.
GOOD TO KNOW
All the common areas are wheelchair accessible and there are two accessible rooms available in their Deluxe Room category.
Dog friendly rooms are available (for small pooches only)
Turn down service available
The hotel offers a popular afternoon tea in the restaurant
The Baptist Bar is able to be hired for private events
GETTING THERE
Being so central you wont have an issue reaching L’Oscar. The closest tube station is literally steps away at Holborn but Chancery Lane and Tottenham Court Road are also close by.
We were invited guests of the hotel but as always our thoughts and opinions are our own
