The Gantry is Stratford’s swankiest new hotel, adding some glamour to the Olympic Park area which is already buzzing with Westfield shopping centre and numerous high end bars and restaurants opening their doors in the area. Boasting beautifully styled rooms, and soon to become home to East London’s highest roof terrace, the hotel’s façade takes its inspiration from NYC’s infamous Flat Iron Building.
The Gantry’s lobby is playful and full of eye-catching vivid colour – red, green and orange chesterfield seating is set against stylish furnishings with a Persian rug perfectly placed. This ground floor space which is expansive, will imminently launch The Stratford Grocer & Co’s food market, deli and coffee shop, where guests will be able to peruse artisanal produce from wines and beers to cheese and charcuterie.
Paying homage to Stratford’s past and to its locomotive history (Stratford Railway employed nearly 3000 people in the area in the early 19th Century), The Gantry manages to style out its industrial influences through some incredible design features. Located a stone’s throw from Stratford International station (just 6 minutes from King’s Cross!), you’ll find nods to the glamorous olden days of train travel from the building’s incredible exterior, to the lifts and bathrooms, while hotel rooms feature exposed rivets and a juxtaposition of traditional materials against the very finest fabrics and furnishings.
Set over 17 floors, the views are quite something and the sunsets, even more impressive! This hotel is placed smack bang in the middle of what’s becoming quite a thriving local community and it’s evident that keeping things ‘local’ is important to The Gantry, as is their dedication to ensuring it appeals to the ‘curious traveller’ as part of the Curio Collection brand.
Union Social on the first floor is a well designed, airy space with a gorgeous terrace featuring cosy fire pits for the colder nights. The Coupe cocktail bar is the perfect place to pull up a high stool and enjoy an incredible list of drinks curated by award-winning mixologist Walter Pintus (who’s worked with The Ritz and The Connaught), but on the night we visited, Giacomo produced cocktail after cocktail which were all perfectly balanced. While the list has something for everyone, he’s also happy to ‘mix things up’ – just tell him what you’d like in your drink and he’ll do the rest!
Food is a relaxed affair with a good range of dishes from Exec Chef Salvatore Coco. Prawn and potato croquettes with roasted garlic alioli hit the spot, but the highlight was the beautifully cooked scallops – delicate flavour, soft to the touch, and oh-so-moreish with an accompanying creamy and subtle artichoke puree with a dash of smoked paprika oil. The sticky toffee pudding which followed is the best I’ve ever tasted – who knew that adding a bit of crumble would elevate the dish to heady new heights?! The scoop of bourbon flavoured ice cream was quite literally the icing on the cake.
The Gantry is most definitely the ‘design hotel’ it set out to become and with its impressive roof terrace on the 17th floor set to transform Stratford’s nights out this summer with parties and DJs, we’d say it’s a ‘destination hotel’ too. Fantastic, food, drink and luxurious rooms, all under one roof.
