Jan O. R.
Yelp
If location, design and age of a hotel are top priorities for your next stay in London, this definitely is the go-to place for you. If you travel with a lot of luggage and expect a lot of space, you may want to look elsewhere. (Well, if you are looking for large hotel rooms, better stay out of London altogether.)
We stayed at The Hoxton Holborn for two nights on a weekend in early December, opting for the "Cosy" room size. Arriving quite early on a Friday, we didn't expect our room to be ready, however, to our big surprise and delight, our room was ready for us. Check-In was swift and informal, but friendly. We were informed about the hotel's rather unsusual breakfast routine (leave the paper bag provided outside your door at night, and find it filled with a banana, orange juice and some yoghurt/granola in the morning) and the various eateries nearby. (There is no spa or fitness room.)
Our room was - as all rooms are in London - smallish. A bed, a secretary (the furniture, not the person) with chair, a small lounge chair, a clothes rail with a safe and a minibar underneath. And not much space. The bathroom was rather small, too. (When - sorry to be so explicit - sitting on the toilet, my right knee regularly bumped into the shower's glass wall.) Alas, it was brand new and clean. (Which - in London - is rather the exception.) The overall design was very pleasing with some nice touches. For instance, the flat screen TV is integrated into the top of the secretary and swivels out for better viewing (e. g. from the bed). And there is a little radio which looks old, yet it offers bluetooth connectivity, so I immediately connected my iPhone and listened to some of my own music.
What is lacking, though, is space. Storage space. There simply is no place in the room to store a suitcase (we rather unceremoniously dumped ours on the lounge chair), neither is there any cupboard to put away your clothes. A clothes rail with six hangers and a single (open) shelf underneath. That's it. This pattern repeats in the bathroom. No place near the sink big enough to store your toiletries bag, no place in the shower to put your shampoo or shower gel. Which I found mildly annoying.
Alas, what the place lacks in space, it makes up in design and location:
The entire hotel - which at the time of writing (late 2014) was still brand new - is designed a bit like the various Soho Houses I'm familar with. A bit retro, a bit industrial chique, a bit "my parents' library in the 70s". Lots of leather and wood, the odd polished or aged metal surface. Locationwise, you would be hard pressed to find anything more central: The hotel is more or less around the corner from the British Museum, tube-wise you have Tottenham Court Road and Holborn up and down the street (respectively), loads of busses stop near the hotel, too. Plenty of interesting bars and restaurants in the neighbourhood.
So, if you are looking for a new, trendy and well-designed hotel in a perfect location, you may want to stay at the Hoxton Holborn. But don't bring too big a suitcase.