The Boundary Project

Design enthusiasts will love this on-trend hotel in happening Shoreditch. Part of the Design Hotels collection, it's set in a restored late-Victorian warehouse and retains original industrial features like exposed-brick walls and sash windows. The Albion restaurant takes up most of the five-story brick property’s ground floor. Floor-to-ceiling windows lead to the small, modest lobby, which doesn't exactly set the scene for the individually designed rooms. Famed designer Sir Terence Conran oversaw the interior design here, and the hotel invokes the feeling of a wealthy, detail-obsessed architect’s private home. The formal Boundary Restaurant sports 3D-effect cube checkered tile flooring, and striking ceiling murals. The moody Boundary Bar has metal-framed red leather stools at a mismatched wood-panel-fronted bar. Retro armchairs and black-and-white portraits complete the look. The rooftop bar and restaurant, with a year-round heated orangery, have handsome solid wood tables and stylish modern seating on wood-panel flooring.

The Boundary Rooms & Suites is located on a small but nonetheless busy side road off Shoreditch High Street, a vibrant, trendy east London neighborhood. There’s no shortage of quirky boutiques, bars, and restaurants in this area, and a number of London Underground (tube) stations are within walking distance. So too is the edge of the City of London, convenient for travelers in town on business -- but major tourist landmarks are a tad farther afield.

• Two-minute walk to Shoreditch High Street Overground tube station
• 11-minute walk to Liverpool Street subway and mainline railway stations
• 12-minute walk to Columbia Road flower market
• 21 minutes to the Tower of London by public transportation (nine-minute drive)
• 26 minutes to Oxford Street by public transportation (24-minute drive)
• 27 minutes to the British Museum by public transportation (16-minute drive)
• 28 minutes to Big Ben by public transportation (16-minute drive)
• 30 minutes to London City Airport by public transportation (21-minute drive)
• 34 minutes to the London Eye by public transportation (17-minute drive)
• 35 minutes to Buckingham Palace by public transportation (18-minute drive)
• 58 minutes to Heathrow Airport by public transportation (44-minute drive)
• 59 minutes to Gatwick Airport by public transportation (one-hour drive)

The 17 rooms at the Boundary differ from one another, but all are influenced by designer heavyweights and movements. The 12 bright, spacious entry-level Boundary Rooms include larger corner units, and four of the five suites are duplex lofts with narrow wraparound balconies.

Room layouts are fairly consistent, and all rooms have king-size beds with eye-catching headboards, desks, and stylish sofas and armchairs. There’s a mix of handsome wood-panel flooring and smart gray carpeting, plus original industrial features. Highlights include gorgeous hardwood closet doors in the entry-level Scandinavian Room, and a blond-wood desk and bench in the corner Shaker Room. There’s striking modern downlighting over living rooms in the Modern Italian and Benchmark Room duplex suites.

Bathrooms display more decorative variety: The Benchmark Room suite’s bathroom is much busier than rooms, with black-and-white geometric checkered floors and wall tiling. Elsewhere, the Scandinavian Room has beautiful sauna-style wood-paneled walls and white butcher-style tiling, and there’s white tongue-and-groove paneling in the Shaker Room. Bathrooms have a mix of shower/tub combos, walk-in showers, and freestanding slipper tubs, but all have rainfall and power showerheads, and many have double sinks, plus bidets. All feature built-in audio systems and heated towel rails, plus designer miniature toiletries by Aesop.

Wide-ranging amenities include small flat-screen smart TVs (some with Apple TV), phones, iPod docks, safes, robes, slippers, and hairdryers, plus plenty of design-focused reading material. Coffee- and tea-making facilities include French-press coffeemakers in entry-level rooms, and espresso machines in suites; all come with ground coffee and fresh milk. Extensively stocked minibars also focus on local and British items. Beware that poor soundproofing and the local nightlife scene mean rooms can be noisy (both earplugs and eye masks are provided), though suites are higher up and quieter. There have been some reports of maintenance problems as well.

The Boundary is popular, both among guests and locals, for its three restaurants. The informal, walk-in-only Albion has an in-house bakery and grocery store, while the more formal basement-level Boundary Restaurant serves traditional French cuisine from an open kitchen. The adjoining Boundary Bar offers classic cocktails alongside an extensive list of all-French wines from the cellar, while the heated orangery on the rooftop is open for Mediterranean-influenced meals and drinks. Hotel guests get priority access to all four venues (which can also be booked for private functions), but otherwise lines can be long and service is sometimes poor. Room service is also available, and breakfast offers a good variety, but it’s not always included in the rates, and full service starts relatively late. There’s no concierge and no gym, pool, or spa at the hotel, all drawbacks for a property of this level. But all rooms come with exercise mats, plus in-room massage and yoga sessions can be arranged (for a fee). Guests get discounted rates at local pools and fitness centers as well. Free, reliable Wi-Fi is available throughout.