Broadwick Soho: Where Jazz Age Glamour Meets Contemporary London
This isn't just another luxury hotel dropped into London's most vibrant neighbourhood — it's a love letter to the district itself, capturing everything that makes Soho extraordinary and translating it into 57 rooms of pure theatrical indulgence.
Opened in November 2023, Broadwick Soho is the debut project of Noel Hayden, a hotelier who cut his teeth helping his parents run the Mon Ami hotel in Bournemouth. But this is no seaside guesthouse. Working with celebrated designer Martin Brudnizki — the creative force behind Paris's Le Grand Mazarin and Mayfair's decadent Annabel's — Hayden has created something that feels less like a hotel and more like stepping into an elaborate dollhouse where every room tells a different story.
Maximalism as an Art Form
The moment you cross that pink threshold, you're enveloped in a world of seafoam green walls trimmed with tropical bird-printed wallpaper, pastel pink baseboards, and two grandiose Murano glass chandeliers casting their warm glow over burlwood china cabinets displaying ceramics by Dame Laura Knight. It's gloriously, jubilantly busy — a marvel for maximalists that somehow never tips into chaos.
Brudnizki drew inspiration from 1920s Jazz Age opulence, English eccentricity, Italian glamour, and even the world of disco. The result is a visual language entirely its own. To mark the opening, two gargantuan bipedal elephants in top hats and tails were winched into place on the building's facade — not just decoration, but a symbol. Elephants never stray from their herd, Hayden explains, reflecting the hotel's family-run roots and community spirit.
The attention to detail is extraordinary. Artwork from English icons Bridget Riley and Francis Bacon hangs alongside pieces from emerging artists. Floral rugs and muralled wardrobes create fairytale-worthy bedrooms where pink, blue, and green palettes combine with hand-painted garden scenes. Navy leopard print wallpaper adorns bathrooms stocked with sustainable Ortigia toiletries and coveted Dyson hairdryers. Frette Italian sheets and pillowtop mattresses promise sleep so good you'll forget jet lag exists.
The Nook: A Secret Worth Keeping
Hidden on the ground floor, The Nook is the hotel's residents-only lounge — a darkly seductive space combining Jazz Age vibes with vintage Italian opulence. Here, guests can curl up by the open fire with a book, sip late-night cocktails, or spin vinyl on the hi-fi turntable. The record collection is hand-picked from Soho's legendary neighbouring stores: Rough Trade, Sister Ray, and Reckless Records, just steps away on Berwick Street.
It's the kind of space where you can settle in with the warmth of the fireplace and the sound of spinning vinyl and feel like you've discovered Soho's best-kept secret — even though you're staying in a hotel.
Dear Jackie: Italian Romance Below Ground
Descend the lush navy staircase to the hotel's lower ground floor and you'll find Dear Jackie (broadwicksoho.com/dear-jackie), named for Hayden's mother and dedicated to all the legendary, flamboyant Jackies of past, present, and future. This is where Italian opulence meets disco glamour: seductive Murano lighting, red silk walls, and plush booths creating an atmosphere that's simultaneously intimate and celebratory.
Under Head Chef Harry Faddy (previously of Aquavit London), the menu is a love letter to Italian gastronomy. Think wild seabass crudo with fennel and blood orange, lemon ricotta agnolotti, pappardelle with braised rabbit and taggiasche olives, hogget with pistachio. The pasta is exceptional, the wine list extensive, and the pre-theatre set menu (£30 for two courses, £35 for three) makes perfect sense given the hotel's location in the heart of theatreland.
Open nightly for dinner from 5pm to midnight (1am on weekends), Dear Jackie has earned glowing reviews for both its food and its atmosphere. As the Financial Times Magazine noted: "It had been a fine evening, in a quirky and entertaining room, with gratifyingly excellent food."
Bar Jackie: All-Day Italian Energy
At street level, Bar Jackie (broadwicksoho.com/dear-jackie-bar) captures Soho's bohemian spirit from morning till late. The vibrantly decorated café-bar serves breakfast, coffees and cornetti from an espresso counter where guests can stand and pretend to be Italian. The all-day menu runs through aperitivo classics — Pinsa Romana, arancini, antipasti — alongside negronis, vermouths, and homemade gelati.
With its terrace overlooking bustling Broadwick Street, Bar Jackie offers front-row seats to Soho life. Lunch feels simply good here, whether you're stepping out with colleagues on a weekday or gathering your favourite people at the weekend. The space pays tribute to the neighbourhood's creative energy while adding its own contemporary glamour.
Flute: Soho from Above
Crown jewel of the hotel is Flute, the rooftop bar named for the 19th-century flute-maker who once worked on Broadwick Street. Perched high above the Soho streets, its landscaped wraparound terrace offers spectacular south and east-facing views over the West End skyline — a genuine rarity in this part of London.
Inside, the décor combines cocooned comfort with colourful swagger: animal-print upholstery, cork walls, mirrored ceilings, and an extravagant palm-frond carpet that somehow makes perfect sense. From the onyx-topped central bar, knowledgeable mixologists craft innovative cocktails alongside all the classics. The menu features sharing plates — oscietra caviar with potatoes, beef tartare, prawn spring rolls with ponzu mayo — designed to complement those drinks and those views.
Open from noon to 12:30am (1:30am Thursday to Saturday), Flute becomes particularly magical at sunset when you can gaze out over the London Eye and the hodgepodge old-and-new skyline with a perfectly crafted martini in hand.
Location, Location, Location
Sitting at the buzzy crossroads of Broadwick and Berwick Street — home to fabric shops, record stores, indie restaurants and one of London's oldest street-food markets — the hotel couldn't be better positioned. Carnaby Street is around the corner, Oxford Street a short walk away, and Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus practically on the doorstep. The nearest tube is Tottenham Court Road, on both the Central and Elizabeth lines.
But the real point is this: with a location this central, you won't need transport. Everything Soho offers — West End theatres, legendary jazz clubs, historic pubs, cutting-edge galleries — is within easy walking distance. As hotel staff like to say: "Soho is our playground."
The Details That Matter
The hotel offers 57 rooms ranging from Standard to Deluxe (from around £450 per night), plus nine suites and a spectacular penthouse. Six rooms are adapted for reduced mobility with step-free access throughout all eight floors. Families are welcome — the hotel provides baby beds, highchairs, nappy bins, bottle warmers, and babysitting services on request. Small dogs (up to 15lbs) are also welcomed with advance notice.
There's no pool, no spa, no gym — but complimentary access to a nearby fitness centre is arranged on request. The philosophy seems to be: you're in Soho, what else were you planning to do but eat, drink, and explore?
A Soho Spirit
What makes Broadwick Soho work isn't just Brudnizki's extraordinary interiors or the exceptional service (staff consistently earn praise for being warm, attentive, and genuinely thoughtful). It's that the hotel understands Soho at a fundamental level. This neighbourhood has always belonged to those willing to be bold, creative, unapologetically themselves. It's where the Jazz Age met English eccentricity, where Italian glamour collides with disco energy, where past and present merge into something entirely new.
Broadwick Soho doesn't just reflect that spirit — it embodies it. In an era when Soho faces pressure from rising rents and corporate chains, this independent hotel stands as proof that the neighbourhood's grit and glamour are alive and well, ready to welcome anyone willing to step through that pink door and into the theatrical wonderland beyond.
