IN FULL BLOOM

Amid London’s sprawling cityscape lies a hidden gem where the past meets present. Amy Yasmine gets a lesson in history at The Bloomsbury, whose very own feminist past gets an unexpected bourgeoise makeover.

To say that London is a city full of surprises, is an understatement. At every turn and corner, something unexpected awaits. It’s a happenstance that I’ve somewhat grown accustomed to, having spent nearly most of my formative years growing up in the city itself. Despite my thinking of having already discovered all London has to offer, I found myself re-discovering all which I thought I once knew, at The Bloomsbury Hotel.

HISTORY REINVENTED

Tucked away in a quiet alley on Great Russell Street, The Bloomsbury is located in London’s literary heartland. It’s a prime address whose parameters were once dominated by the greatest writers in history— E.M. Forster, Lytton Strachey, John Maynard Keynes, and Virginia Woolf—all who were known collectively as the Bloomsbury Set. Indeed, it was this illustrious group of intellects that inspired the Grade II–listed building-turned-hotel. Step inside and you’ll soon discover 36 original masterpieces by illustrator Luke Edward Hall paying homage to literary icons, while restaurants and bars take on the period’s famed novels to new epicurean heights.