Following a five-storey expansion, the popular Hoxton hotspot Black Rock has expanded from being a simple bar to a fully fledged whisky hotel, the Black Rock Lodge.
The award-winning bar, which also has an outpost in Bristol, first announced plans of its extension last summer. The Christopher Street site is now a sprawling tribute to whisky, which includes a blending room for tasting and mixing, the Black Rock Tavern, an informal space serving beer and highball cocktails as well as a range of drams, and four bedrooms spread across two floors. It is presently London’s only whisky hotel, though in Notting Hill, the Distillery Hotel offers something similar, with a working gin distillery downstairs, a bar and three guest rooms.
Inspired by Tokyo's capsule hotels, the Black Rock Lodge is minimalist throughout, which sits in keeping with the original bar’s aim; it intended to prick the pomposity and pretension often associated with Scotch and the like.
Besides the 250 bottles available in the bar, the Blending Room – as the name suggests – is a spot for guests to blend their own whiskies to take home, though guests who’ve overindulged might find they’re better off heading upstairs for a lie down. Rooms are available from £120 a night.
9 Christopher Street, EC2A 2BS. For more information, visit blackrock.bar
