The Blurb
The Other House is a hybrid of rental apartments and luxury hotels. Presented as a solution to the conundrum of finding luxury digs in the city for work or extended stays, The Other House offers guests the opportunity to live like a resident in purpose-built flats within the confines of an incredibly cool members’ club and hotel – complete with gym, spa, wellness centre, restaurant and bar. It’s a bit like Soho House, but you can live there.
Sleep
Our room was a craftily designed, self-contained flat that felt very much like a tiny house. The kitchen area had an inbuilt cooker and microwave, a dishwasher and all the trimmings. Clearly, every element had been thought about, from practicality to aesthetics. Within the room, there was also a living area, with a beautiful sofa and a wide screen TV that was separated from the bed and shower room by a room divider. Though small, the room still felt spacious due to the intelligent design.
Dine
The Other kitchen & the Owl & Monkey are right next to each other on the ground floor, not overwhelmingly big yet with plenty of corners for privacy.
The building has been designed for residents who will be in the building for extended periods of time and, therefore, don’t want the same thing every night. The restaurant doesn’t serve dinner, only light bites. Pop-up chefs will take over the kitchen for up to two weeks at a time, perhaps bringing their families along and becoming residents themselves. The Other House also has an on-call chef for the nights when residents require it.
There is a huge focus on sustainability, with the menu targeting minimal wastage in both the bar and restaurant. The Other Kitchen has countdown blackboards so that guests can see the availability of each dish in real-time, and the cocktails have been carefully designed to work with what are mainly UK-sourced ingredients. Limes have the highest carbon footprint of all fruit (news to me!) and have been replaced with Sea Buckthorn, something you can source from hedgerows around the UK.
The cocktails did not disappoint, dressed with minimalism in chunky glasses with a large block of ice – a stylish choice of presentation that encapsulates the sophisticated vibe of the bar itself.
Firstly, I tried the Monkey See Monkey Do, made with clarified milk. It was a pina colada-inspired drink, but not at all heavy and much more sophisticated than the original. The Night Owl – bourbon, cherry and plum coulis and garnished with generously liqueur-soaked cherry – was a refreshing and interesting twist to the sweet side of an Old Fashioned. The Honey Creeper was my favourite – a flavoursome Margarita-style drink created without lime or salt! Finally, Orange is the New Sour, the base spirit being Mezcal, a favourite of mine. The musk on the cocktail was unusual but enticing – it was so fresh and light, and the sour is subtle. These are all so easy to drink, and not so overwhelmingly heavy, that you will no doubt want more than one.
We then tried the bar’s delicious selection of light snacks, which you can enjoy pre-dinner or as a light bite. We tried the Scotch egg, which was really fresh (it looked like it had been fried to order and not sat under a heater) with subtle Piccalilli, which looked vibrant on the plate and complemented the fantastic seasoning of the meat. We then went for the Arancini, which can run the risk of being dry if it’s not done perfectly, but this was beautifully done and not too heavy. They also do mini Beef sandwich sliders, which are just delicious; the meat was really succulent and moist but didn’t soak into the bread, leaving it crispy and texturally intriguing. The cream garnish gave it just the right amount of creamy deliciousness to balance the meat’s umami flavour. We then finished with Padron peppers dipped in whipped feta. I love this dish in any form, but the astoundingly creamy whipped feta made it all the more exciting.
Breakfast is the perfect combination of a coffee shop experience mixed with a traditional buffet: you can go all out and get the full experience, helping yourself to the incredibly fresh orange juice, coffees to order, pastries, yoghurts and vegan dishes, including overnight oats and chia seeds.
We also tried the cooked breakfast sandwiches. I was pretty full by this point when a humungous sourdough dish arrived at the table. They were presented in paper wrapping; keeping with the casual aesthetic. The full English included really flavourful tomatoes and the Cumberland sausages are hearty and herbaceous (I reckon the same meat used for the Scotch eggs, which would make sense given the no waste ethic).
I ordered the vegan tofu option and was pleasantly surprised by how flavoursome it was. The delicious bread sandwiched a taste explosion, with vegan cheese, tomatoes, mushrooms and meaty tofu.
Out & About
South Kensington has no end of bars, restaurants, museums and activities to keep everyone entertained, but Other House itself has its fair share of distractions. The private members’ area has a screening room and plenty of places to set camp for an evening.
There is also an extended gym and a gorgeous indoor pool, complete with a steam room and sauna. They have a selection of wellness sessions and treatment experiences, including yoga, sound therapy, reiki and acupuncture sessions.
The Crowd
There were, of course, a lot of young professionals, but also families and couples.
The Best Thing
The best thing about the Other House is the be-at-home ethos. Everything you might need for a comfortable stay is thought of and facilitated. The private members’ areas all have tea and coffee-making facilities, where you can help yourself throughout the day. The members’ lounge has stylish lockers, so if you decide to purchase a bottle of whisky, you can store it there and help yourself whenever you feel inclined. They have a separate delivery address for resident’s post, and even Deliveroo, which is connected to an app that notifies you when it arrives.
The Worst Thing
I didn’t have a perfect night’s sleep as the bed was a little creaky.
The Details
There are currently houses in South Kensington and Covent Garden. One night stay is from £350 per night; long stays from £995 per week
