Courthouse Hotel Shoreditch

In 1903 the Old Street Magistrates Court opened on Old Street, Shoreditch. For the next century it processed London’s criminals, held the Kray Twins in its cells and served as a police station until 2008. Then someone had the good sense to spend forty million pounds turning it into a five star hotel. 

The result is Courthouse Hotel Shoreditch – a Grade II-listed Edwardian Baroque building that carries its history not as a gimmick but as a genuine asset, and one of the most characterful places to stay in East London.

The experience

The building announces itself on arrival: the mosaic floors, stained-glass windows and grand staircase are the original features, retained and celebrated rather than stripped out in favour of generic luxury. Service is impeccable without being stiff, which matters in a building that could easily tip into stuffy territory. 

The facilities are extraordinary for a boutique hotel of this size: a subterranean spa with a 33-foot Jacuzzi, dry sauna and steam room sits beneath a bowling alley, a full-size cinema and a rooftop bar with panoramic city views. 

The Courthouse manages the unusual feat of feeling genuinely relaxed despite offering more to do than most guests will get through in a weekend.

The rooms

128 rooms and suites: 86 guest rooms and 42 suites spread across two buildings are composed of the original Magistrates Court conversion, with its characteristically high ceilings and a more contemporary new build. 

The Magistrate King rooms, set within the original side of the building, offer the fullest sense of the hotel’s history. 

Suites range from the Hoxton Suite – with a separate sitting area and king-size bed – to the Shoreditch Sky Terrace Suites on the upper floors, which offer 60 square metres of living space and panoramic London skyline views. 

All rooms feature bespoke fabrics, Nespresso coffeemakers and state-of-the-art entertainment systems. The dark-tiled bathrooms with walk-in showers are a consistent highlight across categories.

Food and drink

The Jailhouse Bar is where the hotel’s history becomes genuinely fun. Five original prison cells have been converted into cocktail booths – you drink a jail-themed cocktail in a space where London’s most notorious criminals were once held, which turns out to be an excellent way to spend an evening. 

The Judge and Jury restaurant occupies the former courtroom and serves refined comfort food classics for lunch daily and dinner Tuesday to Saturday. 

Above it all, the Upper Fifth rooftop bar offers views across the London skyline for up to 200 guests and is worth reserving well in advance during summer.

The neighbourhood

Old Street puts the Courthouse at the heart of Shoreditch’s most navigable stretch. Old Street station is 750 metres away, Brick Lane is a short walk east, and the restaurants and bars that make Shoreditch worth visiting are all accessible on foot. 

The hotel’s sheer volume of on-site facilities means guests can choose how much of the neighbourhood they actually want to engage with, which, for a certain kind of traveller, is precisely the point.