There’s a boutique hotel in London’s Soho where I would love to go and stay. It is Hazlitt’s, and the building dates from 1718 (the hotel takes up four conjoined townhouses). It became a hotel in 1986.
It was home for only a few months for essayist William Hazlitt, who died in a small back room on the third floor in 1830 (the place was a rooming house at that time). When Hazlitt died there from stomach cancer, it was very inconvenient for the landlady, who shoved his body under the bed in order to show the room to a prospective tenant. He was buried in St Anne’s churchyard, just around the corner. There is a blue plaque to Hazlitt on the front of the building.
Its literary name makes it a popular hotel with writers today. Irish poet Seamus Heaney, J.K. Rowling (who likes to stay in the Lady Frances Hewitt room there), Bill Bryson (who mentions it in his Notes from a Small Island), and Ted Hughes are some of the lucky writers who have been guests at Hazlitt’s. In her novel Indiscretion Hannah Fielding has two of her characters enjoy lunch there. The various rooms have been named for writers and contemporaries of Hazlitt, or the women he slept with. It has some lovely antique furniture and paintings and there are plenty of bookshelves and a library where you can enjoy a peaceful drink.
There is even a hotel cat, Sir Godfrey, who keeps an eye on guests and provides unique customer service. The beds are hand-carved and said to be incredibly comfortable.
Prices seem to vary from around A$400 to $900 per night. Perhaps when I am in the UK early next year, I’ll get the chance to check it out?
Have you ever stayed in this hotel? Tell me your experience by leaving a comment here.
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