Room2 Chiswick - London’s very first Hometel - and net-zero hotel!

Location: Chiswick
Price: ££
Value for Money: 5/5
Overall: 5/5
Perfect for: London Staycations, Home away from home

A hometel is a novel concept in London, but Room2 has broken into this space of comfortable, personable hotels, and they’ve done it very well.

Yet not only is this hotel a comfortable oasis, it’s also the world’s first whole life net zero hometel, meaning that all the carbon emissions from conception through to end-of-life have been reduced and rebalanced to zero.

So on a bright weekend I headed to the Chiswick branch of Room2 to check into a relaxing weekend relaxing in the hometel, and exploring the leafy surroundings.

Location:

London’s first hometel is located in the heart of Chiswick, which means it is surrounded by cafes, restaurants and boutiques stores. In fact, I was spoilt for choice when it came to where to stop for a coffee, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even for entertainment.

The hotel itself is a few minutes walk from Stamford Brook tube station, on the District line, which is ideal if you're carrying a lot of luggage with you.

Staff and service:

Room2 Chiswick is made up of 86 crafted rooms, but it certainly didn’t feel this large. When we entered we were greeted at the entrance, rather than behind a reception desk, by a friendly staff member who enquired about our journey, our day, and then took us into the cosy lounge area to sit with us and check us in.

This relaxed approach very much sums up the staff, and this is no bad thing. The service is always friendly and the staff are actually known as ‘roommates’. To contact them there isn’t a phone, instead we used watsapp to and quickly receive a response.

In fact, by the end of our stay we knew our ‘roommates’ by name and had got to know them quite well.

Accommodation:

Once checked in, we took the lift up to the top floor to check into our Suite. Room2 has a variety of room types, including snugs, studios and lounges. We booked the largest of the rooms, as we were staying for a few nights, and planning to spend a bunch of the time relaxing in the room.

As well as a super comfy king size bed, the suite also has a fully equipped kitchen with additional oven and dishwasher. This meant we had everything we needed to cook meals in our room when we wanted to - which was a great little perk!

As the room was located on the top floor, it featured gorgeous large windows which spanned the length of the room. There was also a work desk, sofa with large TV, and plenty of cubbies to store our luggage out of the way. I particularly loved the recycled shopping tote bags in the room which I used for my grocery shop!

As this is a net zero hotel, there were recycling bins in the room instead of a standard bin, and the towels and sheets only get changed when requested. These small changes make Room2 89% more efficient than an average hotel.

Breakfast:

Room2 wasn’t yet fully staffed during our stay, due to various staff shortages caused by the pandemic. So breakfast was ordered in advance, via watsapp, and sent to our room.

The breakfast selection, although not cooked, was still very impressive, and made up of teas and coffees, juices, yoghurt, muesli and a lovely choice of pasties. Enjoying this leisurely breakfast in bed in the morning sunlight was one of the highlights of my stay.

Facilities:

The hometel has a variety of facilities for guests, including a large ground floor space which houses a classy bar named Boca, as well as plenty of cosy nooks for working, relaxing and socialising. There’s also great old-school board games dotted around the space which are a great way to pass the time.

For additional dining options, Boca serves freshly baked pastries for breakfast and fine Italian cuisine for lunch and dinner - alongside a selection of cocktails too.

There’s also a laundry and a gym fitted with Peloton bikes, assault rowers and a functional weight area.

Overall:

I really enjoyed my stay at Room2 Chiswick, and I very quickly became used to the friendly nature of the staff, and the hometel. This is a very communal hotel where guests can expect to get to know the staff and other guests very quickly.

I loved our suite, as not only was it gorgeously designed, but all the pieces in the room were bespoke, sourced from local artists and designers. The room also had everything we needed for a comfortable stay, and I could have easily stayed longer!