Limehouse Library Hotel

I don't have any experience with this hotel, but I will just note this isn't a very convenient area to stay if you want to see any sights in London, and is a bit of a dead zone. Limehouse was London's original Chinatown but none of the original restaurants remain. If you're looking to be close to London City Airport, you're in the right end of town, altho this hotel doesn't seem to be super close to the DLR. If you're looking for restaurants etc I would head a bet west to Wapping which has some very nice pubs.

The Limehouse Library Hotel is nowhere near most of London’s attractions—although convenient for a flight out of LCY. Too far east for being convenient to much else.

The Tower Hotel near the Tower Gateway and Tower Hill stations would place you near both the Tube’s Circle Line and the DLR Line.

Still, I would stay somewhere that is closer in to central London.

I should have provided more details. We have been to London numerous times and have seen all of the big sites more than once.
We are only going to be in London for 2 nights. We are arriving in the afternoon from Southampton after an Atlantic crossing on the Queen Mary 2, We plan to spend the next day in Greenwich having not previously been there, then see a show in the West End that evening. We then fly out from LCY the following morning. This trip is not so much to see London, but we could not pass up the chance to catch a show while were so close. As for pubs, our favorite is the Blackbird in the Village of Croughton, in Northamptonshire near Brackley.
Again, I apologize for my lack of specificity in my original post.

No need to apologise! With that additional info, I might take Kenko's suggestion above and stay near Tower Hill. It's still on the DLR so easy to get to both London City airport and Greenwich, and easy to get to the West End. There will be more pubs and restaurants nearby- there's really not a whole lot around Limehouse.

It looks a very interesting building, being a conversion from a former Library, and from what I can see very reasonable prices. It's really nice to see the premises being re-used, and they have clearly gone to a lot of trouble in the design.

I don't know why people above are saying it is so far from the DLR. It's only about 250 to 300 metres walk to Limehouse DLR station, a station I am horribly familiar with- having been my commuter change point from the C2C for many years. So you can take the DLR from there to both Greenwich and LCY (both direct journeys).
Also the #15 bus to Charing Cross stops right outside (a 24/7 bus route).
In the other direction the DLR runs to Tower Gateway and Bank (for all it's various tube connections to elsewhere).

You can even bus to LCY- the 115 to Canning Town, then the 474- every 8 and every 12 minutes respectively. The 474 is another 24/7 route.

Granted it's hardly the most attractive area of London by any means. And Commercial Road (the A13) is very busy, so I hope they have good sound proofing, but in a modern build that should be a given.

For seeing the sights it is as least as convenient as Paddington. Judging by last nights prices as cheap as a Premier Inn, and a far nicer place than the PI bland, corporate type of hotel.

I'd tend to agree with everything Stuart says. I had a look at pictures of it last night and the interiors look fantastic, as well as being a characterful old building on the outside. For the facilities they offer with their rooftop bar and spa it does seem reasonably priced. Google tells me it's a six minute walk to Limehouse DLR which doesn't seem far to me. It's pretty much smack dab in the middle of Kevin's two destinations in Greenwich and the west end for the theatre. It's a six or seven minute DLR ride to Bank and you can go anywhere in London on the tube from there.

Being right on Commercial Road is a bit of downside, but once you go down to Limehouse Basin and the river it's a bit nicer.

For two nights for someone who has seen the popular tourist sites it seems like a good bet, especially if you're flying out of London City at the conclusion of your visit Kevin. A good bit of thinking outside the box in terms of accommodation!

I agree it's a very interesting building and see how the location makes sense, but other than Limehouse Basin and the mysterious pyramid in St Anne's churchyard (a very nice Hawksmoor church) there just isn't a whole lot going on in that area. However if you're mostly just planning to sleep there I suppose it doesn't make a lot of difference.

See, yes, it has a Hawksmoor church! :) That's definitely something. It's the same as any little bit of London that looks dull on first sight. Scratch the surface and there's always something of interest.

That area is largely untouched by the hand of gentrification so far so there's not the nice restaurants and trendy places that you get in maybe Bethnal Green or Hackney. Limehouse, Stepney and Poplar are just pretty regular working class neighbourhoods.

A friend of mine had his narrowboat moored at Limehouse Basin for a while. A single visit to him years ago is the most time I've spent there. It was really nice on a summer's evening. It's one of the most sought-after (and pricey) moorings in London. He liked it there but it was too expensive long term.

Wow, such an interesting post. I'm a bellringer and rang a "quarter peal" at St Anne's Limehouse just 2 months ago in November, on a lovely rainy day. I must have gone right past your hotel on the #15 bus on my way back to Holborn after we rang. (There's a bus stop on the NW side of the church property, which would be about 400 ft from the hotel.) Actually about halfway back I got off the bus b/c it was SO rainy the windows were all steamed up and I could see nothing (I had snagged an upper-deck front row seat), so I figured I might as well take the Tube and get back faster!

And your hotel looks intriguing and beautiful.

There were guards posted at each entrance to the churchyard of St Anne's that day, as (we found out later) they were filming some show there the next day – I can see why, as the grounds and the church interior are very evocative. I'm embarrassed to say it was the first time I had heard of Hawksmoor (everyone talks about Christopher Wren, haha!), but of course after that I saw his name all over, including St George's Gardens near where we were staying.

Also, St Anne's Limehouse is on the cover of the recent Christmas edition of the weekly bellringers' magazine The Ringing World. So many coincidences!

One interesting thing, for the ringers on the forum, is that, apart from the 10 bell peal at St Anne's, they also have a chime of 3 clock bells. One of those bells (now used as a quarter bell) is actually a war memorial bell to the railwaymen of the London and South Western Railway killed in WW1. It was originally at St Mary's Church, Bishopstoke in Hampshire, part of their peal of 8- which was removed in 1995, two of the peal (the other two of three war memorial bells) were broken up/melted down, the other 5 apparently dispersed to various other Churches.

The one at Limehouse is simply inscribed 'Thanksgiving'.

That history doesn't seem to be fully recorded in Dove's guide.

Not of interest to the casual tourist, but to the campanologist it is.

OK, now St Anne's Limehouse is on my list for Sunday church bell listens. Quarter Peal, eh? Pretty good.

All I have known about Limehouse is what you see from the DLR.

I know Commercial Road from driving down there mainly. I've driven that way to trade shows at Excel several times, back when I had a car. It is some very car-centric post war, legacy road planning down there and East India Dock Road. Roads that would never get planned today. That area was very heavily bombed in World War II. There would have been streets of terraced houses (rowhouses) lost to bombing. The big council housing estates down that way would all be post-war I'd assume.

As far as local restaurants, I think I'd be looking to see where there's close Indian / South Asian restaurants for a sit down meal near that hotel. I don't really know it that well, but I think there's probably restaurants doing good food for respective international communities as it's quite mixed. I'd probably be looking at Google Maps and other review sites for high ratings and genuine sounding reviews. It's not far on a nice evening to walk up to Shoreditch or Bethnal Green for dinner if you want to look for places that have been in New York Times or Conde Nast lifestyle features, or take a short DLR ride to Canary Wharf or The City.

Neighbourhoods like Limehouse or Stepney will always have a good selection of takeout places, some with a few tables set up diner-style. Fried chicken, piri piri, burgers and kebabs can all make a decent dinner inexpensively if you look for reviews and are happy with the faster-end of local food.

I know the area a little from when my eldest son lived on Commercial Road opposite Watney Market. No one would suggest this for someone on a first tourist visit to London but for someone who has been many times and has good reason to be a bit out east it’s a great choice. Definitely no gentrification yet but perfectly OK and not very far for some excellent curry restaurants. I was in the Needoo Grill only two weeks ago and Tayyabs is also around Whitechapel - just a short bus ride away.

We also took our narrow boat to Limehouse Marina in 2017 so that I could deliver my daughter-in-law to her wedding to my son along the Limehouse Cut to Limehouse Town Hall. The mooring fees for just 3 nights I think were pretty steep.

Thank you to all who replied.
With the information in the aggregate of the responses, I decided to book a room. I was attracted to the idea of staying in a repurposed hotel, and the area looks intriguing. I found there is a Gordon Ramsay restaurant 10 minutes walk from the hotel at the mouth of the Limehouse Basin Shiplock with the Thames. The information about the Hawksmoor St. Anne's church has opened a whole opportunity to see history in the vernacular. All in all, I look at this as finding a new one of those "backdoors" that RS explored in his early days, and I am happy to help open the idea.
Thank you again.

I hope you can report back Kevin. It might be somewhere other forum members can consider in the future.

Come back and report because this whole thread has intrigued me. The hotel looks nice and is the sort of slightly unusual type of place I enjoy.

It will likely be in July as the trip takes place the latter part of June, but I will update this thread, or create a new one about the Limehouse Library Hotel if this one is closed.

Kevin - the Gordon Ramsay place you mention used to be called The Narrow I think and was a pretty average pub. I see it seems to have been re-branded as one of his Bread Street Kitchens.

Much better to walk a bit further east to The Grapes on Narrow St. A pub steeped in history, right on the river and partly owned by Sir Ian McKellen, Gandalf himself.

I must say, like TTM, this hotel has got me seriously interested in a way no hotel in London ever has in decades of looking. Apart from the chain hotels I have a very chequered history of what you might call proper hotels in London (that is not budget ones) at what I consider to be a value for money price.
On a personal basis I'm quite happy to trade off a bit of location for somewhere good, when it still has good transport connections.

I have actually stayed at the hotel with my wife many times. It's fantastic. Each room is individually designed and decorated to celebrate famous writers. Breakfast is great and the staff are very helpful. There's a really good very old pub on the river called the Grapes that has brilliant beers and good pub food. It's very old built in 1583.
We also had afternoon tea with our family on the rooftop terrace. REAL LONDON.

The Grapes looks like a must try. I love what is on the menu, sans the mushy peas, and the historic nature of it adds to making this seem like a great area to explore. Thank you for the suggestion.

The Grapes is a good one (and best known for its McKellan connection as mentioned above) but I also really recommend heading just a bit west along the river to Wapping where you have some of my favourite pubs in London- the Prospect of Whitby (complete with reconstructed gibbet where they used to hang pirates), Captain Kidd (named after a pirate), and Town of Ramsgate. Prospect of Whitby is said to be haunted.

The Wapping pubs are also good choices but they are 1 to 1.5 miles from Limehouse, so quite a bit further away. Still eminently doable though.

OK, this thread got even more interesting. I meant to reply earlier to Stuart's description of the bells but am fighting a cold.

Kevin yes, would love to hear how you like it, as it looks like my kind of hotel (although am staying at PI Holborn in Feb & March, haha – location and price). Great to hear that Willbourns loves it.

Cat VH I must break out of my rut :-) ... I've seen the Prospect of Whitby and Captain Kidd from across the river (& from a boat) many times, most recently in November from the Mayflower in Rotherhithe (another great pub), relaxing with local bellringers after ringing Stedman at the nearby church, but haven't gone yet.

Stuart thanks for all the interesting information about the bells at St Anne's Limehouse. I actually saw the 3 chiming clock bells and was in fact taking a video at 11.45am when they chimed the 3/4 hour and I was so startled that the video shakes. It's loud when you're right next to them! (I'd be happy to share photos/video if anyone wants to see them – it's definitely a niche hobby, bellringing 😄)

The 3 bells are hung in a row from what looked like an I-beam above the 10 change-ringing bells – Stuart, I think I figured out which one is the railwaymen memorial bell. I couldn't quite read the inscription, but it is listed in (the incomplete entry, as you say) Dove's guide as being cast in 1919, which fits, and is by far the lightest bell of the three. I was up in the belfry b/c one of the stays was broken and two of the local bellringers went up to investigate and to retrieve the parts of the stay (stays are made of ash and are designed to break, as a safety measure).

Hmm, might have to check out the Grapes on our next visit!

The Mayflower is a great one as well! For those who aren't already aware, it's called that because it's located where the Mayflower docked before it set sail for the "new world." A really nice day out is to have lunch at the Mayflower, visit the Brunel museum (which is practically next door) to learn about the first tunnel dug under the Thames, then ride the Overground (Windrush line) thru the actual tunnel one stop to Wapping, and go for a pint at Captain Kidd. I have done this and recommend it!

Oh, speaking of "off the beaten path" – after ringing at Walworth, also in November, we retired to the Queen Elizabeth pub around the corner. Absolutely NO tourists. As a local bellringer told me, it's a "proper British pub" :-) He also said they filmed a short bit of "The Crown" at that pub.

OH, but I accidentally stumbled into the 'wrong' entrance (local men only!! 😅) in the QE pub. The others had gone ahead ... I come in (from the street!) via what turns out to be the door to a separate room, see that it's all men – and none of my bellringer compatriots to be seen – some men playing pool, most of them just chatting – but they all look up at this person bursting in unawares – it felt like I'd wandered into a saloon in a Wild West movie, haha. They were perfectly nice and told me I'd want the door around the corner. Once I found my party, one of the local bellringers said even HE had never been into that "inner sanctum" lol

... just checked the Google reviews for the QE – someone actually mentions the "separate room with its own front door for quieter chat. You can imagine the difference being the public and saloon bar rooms in years gone by."

I'm not recommending a special trip to Walworth just for the pub, but if you happen to be in the area, it's a winner. Walworth is so off the beaten tourist path that when i took a quick photo of a red bus, the bus driver actually stopped the bus to ask why I had taken a photo!! Haha, that would never happen in central London. I might have been the only "tourist" that day in Walworth. It was a grey November day, and the bus just looked so cheerful ... ! I think the driver was still confused ;-)

Cat, I love that idea. I've done all of that (plus ringing at St Mary's Rotherhithe, where apparently the captain and some of the crew of the Mayflower are buried), including taking the Windrush line, but without the stop at the Captain Kidd. Adding it to my list!

OP, you must be wondering how on earth this thread has diverged so far (apologies), but,

Laura- this is the information about the Bishopstoke Bells (interesting to see a Titanic victim)- https://www.bishopstokehistory.uk/history-of-st-marys-church-bells/

It is way too far into mission creep for me (just isn't my job), but their bell now at Limehouse, was cast in 1920, not 1919- I don't know whether or not it is possible to get the Dove guide entry amended/expanded.

This is still vaguely travel related in that other Bishopstoke Bells went to Australia and Venezuela!!

Yes, sorry about the bell stuff, Kevin :-)
although I'm loving all of the hidden gems in this thread.

Stuart – thanks so much for the link. Poor Mr Collyer! & I'm intrigued by the one-armed ringer (!).
I have rung with two of the four people who run Dove's guide (they are all legendary ringers!), but I will have to think about bothering them about the 1920 date (although they like having accurate data!). In fact there was just a big announcement today (it's on the home page) about now showing dates of transfers of whole rings of bells.

I don’t know about the bell stuff, but I am now trying to figure out how I can stay at this hotel and eat at the Grape when I am in London in April…..

I took a London Walks tour a year or so ago and we ate at the Mayflower afterwards. It was pretty cool!

TTM – we took the same London Walk! & happily returned to the pub and museum on later trips (as Cat recommends!). One enthusiastic young ringer (in his 20s) even told me he chose a flat near the pub, he likes it so much :-) My sausages and mash were worth the wait for a table on the deck last November, on a brisk Sunday evening – yum!

ooh another recommended good bangers and mash! yay!

more tangent, sorry!

Just south of the Mayflower is Bermondsey. When my grandfather's (my mother's father) grandfather walked to London from Birmingham with the clothes on his back and a small bag on a pole when his work dried up in Brum, he settled in Bermondsey and became of all things a Bermondsey tram driver.

His son became a market gardener, and then the family moved to Thornton Heath. So despite me never claiming it I can say I have the heritage of Londoner! My mother always wanted to be seen as from Surrey (Wallington), where they moved after Thornton Heath...