Bed & bath: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths
Top amenities: Elevator, washing machine
Neighborhood: Trafalgar Square
Who on earth lives on Trafalgar Square? The chap on the column, of course. And lots of pigeons. But this is grand-scale Monopoly-board London, a land of giants, of embassies, members’ clubs, and museums. Does anyone actually live here? Well, turns out they do. This OneFineStay apartment sits five floors up opposite Canada House, just off the Square in what used to be Norway House, and provides a snug vantage point to dip in and out of central London as you like. Pick up provisions from Fortnum & Mason; take a morning stroll past Buckingham Palace and around St James’s Park to spot the pelicans; or be first in line to see the Monets at the National Gallery.
The apartment has two spacious bedrooms, cooled by ceiling fans and set off a Georgian-blue-and-white hallway that feels like it belongs to a larger house, with two bathrooms on the other side, lined with swirling marble. At the far end is a small but well-equipped kitchen, and a clubby sitting room with beams from the original building and lined with reclaimed wooden panels. It’s a little like sitting inside a walnut, or a Jeeves and Wooster–era bachelor pad, with a vintage Harrow XI cricket bat in one corner, a deer-antler lamp in another, and a herringbone-print sofa and pneumatic armchairs to sprawl decadently in before mixing an afternoon Old Fashioned on the Calligaris teak dining table. A few clues to the owners, perhaps, in the Japanese flower art on the bedroom walls, and eclectic bookshelves that take in ceramics, Sarah Perry, British folk traditions, and Norwegian geography. Easy enough to dawdle here for a day but just outside the windows is all the thrill—even for staycationing Londoners like myself—of the city beat. Weekend mornings here can be quieter than some backwater suburbs; the clop of horses heading to Hyde Park, the Post Office Tower greeting us with ‘Good Morning London’ on its digital display.
We downloaded a Treasure Trail map for our son and followed clues around Trafalgar Square, through back streets to unnoticed plaques and footnotes of history—the pub of two halves by Charing Cross, the map of the Trafalgar Way by Canada House. There’s some hidden history in this building too—above the door stands a statue of St Olav, sword in hand; during the war, with Norway occupied, Norway House hosted the government in exile, with King Haakon VII among the frequent visitors. Had he visited during our stay we might have taken him—via the OneFineStay concierge team—for pavement-side drinks at the Sofitel St James round the corner, or the bar at Da Henrietta in Covent Garden. In a part of the city that can feel imposing and impersonal at times, this is a little pocket of character and warmth. —Rick Jordan
