London’s greenest budget hotel: The Corner London City

Looking for a great budget hotel in central London?

Head to The Corner London City for the perfect package; it’s cheap, quirky, and well-located – but it’s the green credentials and commitment to sustainability that really set this eco-friendly hotel apart.

My stay was complimentary for the purposes of this review.

The location

The hotel is situated in the heart of East London, just a 2 minute stroll from Aldgate East station (District Line). It’s a quick stroll away from Brick Lane, and just ten minutes on the underground to Hoxton and Shoreditch.

This is a great spot if you’re planning on spending lots of time exploring the city, so need somewhere well-connected and central to lay your head at night.

The interior

From the outside, the converted office block (which overlooks Ali Altab park on Whitechapel road) doesn’t look like much. But step inside and it’s all hipster house plants, funky tiling, and an open plan layout which includes the bar, plenty of seating, and a handful of cosy corners and multipurpose side rooms perfect for working, dining, and socialising.

After whizzing through the touch-screen, self-service check in, I’d recommend heading straight to the bar for a cocktail. I went for a ‘Ginger-Sage Rage’ cocktail – a reviving mix of Bulleit Rye Whiskey, Maraschino liqueur, ginger and sage, lemon, and Angostura bitters.

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The rooms

Each room is dominated an all-in-one, cube-shaped pod, which includes the bed and the bathroom. These are sustainably built, featuring Super-King beds, an integrated 32″ LCD TV, UK/EU and USB sockets, hairdryers, and a laptop safe.

The furnishings are simple but functional (with some of the furniture made from reclaimed materials) and the beds are topped with Naturalmat mattresses, handmade in Devon with sustainable, biodegradable, organic fibres.

Each room comes with fluffy towels, a reusable glass bottle of filtered water, and free wifi – but tea & coffee making facilities are housed in the corridor on each floor, so you will have to pop out of your room to grab a caffeine fix in the morning. The good news is that this freshly filtered stuff is worth getting up for.

Some of the cheapest rooms here do come without windows (the ‘snug rooms‘) – but if the only time you’ll spend at your hotel is snuggling in bed watching a bit of TV before drifting off, these are just the ticket.

The sustainable credentials

As well as being charmingly quirky, the hotel uses 41 per cent less water due to airdrop shower heads, which mix air with water to reduce each average guest’s consumption by about 25 per cent. It also creates 67 per cent fewer CO2 emissions than the UK industry average, thanks to sensor LED lighting and 40 solar panels on the roof. These are rumoured to be joined by rooftop beehives later this year.

The hotel’s head chef is also on a mission to reduce food waste across the venue. He already serves up daily breakfasts made from leftovers – he recently shared his recipe for his leftover-friendly sprout omlette with sour cream dip.