Why book The Lost Poet?
For the freedom and rootedness that comes from booking an Airbnb, but boosted with serious design smarts and all the perks (a brilliant concierge, dedicated housekeeping) that come as part and parcel of the city’s smartest hotels. Each of the four bedrooms feels utterly secluded – as though you’ve entered a parallel universe in which you own a Notting Hill flat with House of Hackney wallpaper and Nelly Duff artwork, even if just for the weekend.
Hotel address: The Lost Poet, 6 Portobello Road, London W11 3DG
Website: thelostpoet.co.uk
Phone number: +44 20 7243 6604
Price from: £200
Set the scene
Colourful, eccentric, unapologetically British – all of Notting Hill’s identifiers could be applied to The Lost Poet. Armed with the address (6 Portobello Road), we tracked down the unmarked door of the slender Georgian townhouse right on Portobello Road’s sweeping entrance and rang the bell with a faint sense of trepidation, thinking we were about to interrupt a local’s quiet Saturday afternoon. Thankfully, we’d plumped for the right door – the entryway signposts the various bedrooms, which you can access with your phone, lending more authenticity to that ‘oh, I just rent this little place at weekends’ fantasy.
The muse bedroom at The Lost Poet
The backstory
After nearly 18 months of various lockdowns, summer 2021 saw us desperate to get out and explore a world beyond our own four walls. But the pandemic has thrown up a couple of travel trends that The Lost Poet taps into: more and more of us are seeking out private rentals over traditional hotels, keen for seclusion and space, and our local neighbourhoods have undergone a serious renaissance. Enter this newcomer, which draws heavily on its surroundings – local design pros Cubic Studios have implemented a Crayola colour scheme that emulates the houses down the street, for example. It’s a grown-up, adults-only bolthole that sits within touching distance of thriving local hangouts where you’ll want to become a regular – and as you jostle for space at the bar before strolling the few hundred metres back to your temporary front door, you’ll feel as though you are.
The muse bedroom at The Lost Poet
The rooms
There are four monochromatic bedrooms squeezed in across the five narrow floors – the lower-level Suite has a sun-trap patio and a sunshine yellow reading nook, while The Quarters, on the ground floor, plays with 50 shades of green from seafoam to pistachio. We recommend splashing out on The Muse, a penthouse set over two floors with a rooftop terrace big enough for a party, a silver bathtub so deep you could float in it, and views over Portobello that are close enough to feel the buzz, yet remote enough to enjoy it.
The quarters bedroom at The Lost Poet
Food and drink
As with most townhouse hotels, there’s no restaurant on site. Breakfast is delivered to your door every morning – choose from a naughty option (Ottolenghi pastries, collected fresh from the Ledbury Road outpost and bundled up with salty butter and seasonal jams) or a ‘nice’ alternative (vegan compote pots from The Sloe Kitchen). But for us, a London weekend away should be made up of at least 30 per cent dining out, so we suggest seeing this as a first breakfast and venturing further afield for a more substantial follow-up – after all, Notting Hill has one of the best brunch scenes in London.
Order acai bowls and huevos rancheros at Farm Girl, fluffy ricotta hotcakes at Granger & Co or New York approved pancakes from 2021 newcomer Sunday in Brooklyn. Back in your room, the fridge is stocked with non-alcoholic beer and virgin mocktails for a virtuous terrace sundowner before heading back out for supper – the team have arranged discounts at local restaurants such as Taqueria (where you’ll find the neighbourhood’s best tacos). For something turbo-smart, book a table at Michelin-starred Core by Clare Smyth, or keep things more relaxed with Greek food at Mazi.
The salon bedroom at The Lost Poet
The neighbourhood
Paintbox Portobello Road is the nucleus of Notting Hill – a neighbourhood that’s firmly on the tourist trail for good reason. The Lost Poet peeks over the quieter end of the street – stroll past the famous candy-coloured terraced houses to reach rows of queue-worthy restaurants (Gold for seasonal menus that draw in models and royals, Orasay for a taste of the Hebrides, Caractère for Franco-Italian dishes) and smart stores (Sézane, Reformation et al). The joy of feeling as though you’re staying in a slick flat is never more apparent than when you can skip down Portobello Road early doors, when it’s utterly free of TikTokers, or watch the late-night revellers roll home from your vantage point on the roof terrace – you’ll get a proper insight into the rhythms of the neighbourhood.
The service
Staff keep out of your way – it’s all part of making this feel like your own apartment. You don’t even need to check in or out, as the FlexiPass app allows you access to the building from your phone. A dedicated team is on hand 24/7 via text, should you need anything – but the details have been so well thought out, you shouldn’t have to contact them.
Eco effort
There are no single-use plastics in sight – water comes in refillable glass bottles, breakfast is delivered in a tote bag, and old-school bathroom minis have been ditched in favour of full-size lotions and potions. Even the Grind coffee pods for the espresso machine are compostable.
Accessibility for those with mobility impairments
None of the rooms have wheelchair access, which is a shame – there’s one ground-floor space, but the layout is too compact for a wheelchair to navigate successfully.
Anything left to mention?
You can book out the entire townhouse if you’re travelling with a whole gang of merry men and women.
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