The Zetter Restaurant & Rooms

wordgirl

Chic hotel for city stays or special nights 10th September 2008

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We recently stayed at the Zetter and also had dinner and breakfast there. It's a funky, stylish hotel and restaurant in Faringdon/Clerkenwell, houses in a former warehouse belonging to the Zetter Football Pools family.

The one negative up front: the female receptionist was pretty sour and unsmiling. This was in sharp contrast to every other staff member we encountered. At first I wondered if I'd said the wrong thing, but I saw her next morning too, talking to another guest, and she did the same: no eye contact, sullen looks, sighing. We all have our bad days, after all, but the hotel isn't cheap and for us was a nice treat, so things didn't get off to the best start.

They improved later, though. Our standard room was small but well designed, with flattering pink lights, large shower with Elemis goodies, and interesting furniture. The standard rooms have a small screen which allows you to access 4000 different albums for free, so you can choose whatever music suits your mood. It was slightly tricky to navigate the system, and the TV channels had variable volume levels, but a nice idea. Also fun was the ice machines and drinks vending machine on each floor instead of minibar (probably no space for one in the room...), very retro, plus a coffee machine for free hot drinks. The rooms on the road are noisy, but the double glazing's effective, so you probably need the air con during a warm evening.

We ate a light supper from the bar menu, and the food was delicious - salads and dips and drinks. Service here, and at check-out was smiling and helpful. At breakfast (also great - with an a la carte selection if you don't fancy the full, and slightly pricey, buffet), they apologised for laughing, but it was really nice to see people enjoying their morning. There are also magazines and second-hand paperback Penguins to read.

At weekends, the City's very quiet, so bear that in mind if you want to explore - not many places will be open to eat unless you walk or get on the bus! But it's a good place to stay, with personal touches and good last minute offers.

Litro_K

Make Me Happy 21st June 2008

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This is a stylish and unpretentious place to have a drink and a bite to eat in a funky area. A group of colleagues and I went last night with the express intention of taking advantage of their 6-7 half-price Pimms offer, as part of the London Festival of Architecture, and we were not disappointed with the ambience of the place or the service we received. It was, surprisingly, very uncrowded and we sat in a great spot in the light-filled restaurant and bar at the front of the building.

£2.50 will get you a large glass of Pimms every Mon-Fri 6-7pm while the LFA is running (until the 20th July), so get yourself down there to sample that, as well as some of their other excellent cocktails and light bites. The 'Make Me Happy' cocktail, an uber-mojito that my friend described as 'liquid gold in a glass', is worth the trip alone!

mazphd at 29/06/08

i live for mojitos, so 'liquid gold in a glass' has grabbed my attention. I'm going to book a necessary visit asap!

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