My wife has incredibly high standards. (I must be the exception.) So given she decides to book at Tribe London every time she stays in town, I knew it must be good.
Some context: we live in Yorkshire, but she works in banking – so Canary Wharf often comes a calling. Tribe London is the only hotel located within the Canary Wharf estate itself, just a few minutes’ walk from the Tube, DLR and Crossrail stations – and crucially, her office.
My main reason for staying there? It ain’t half handy after a gig at the O2.
The vibe
Tribe’s tone is set before you even enter the building. An outdoor terrace, including a brace of optimistic deck chairs, is bustling with guests enjoying Aperol spritzes on an unseasonably warm March day.
Head indoors and you walk straight into the hotel’s free-flowing, 24-hour ‘Social Hub’ with spaces to suit everyone, whether that’s work, play, eat or meet.
The Tribe brand was born in Perth, Australia, but the vibe here is more West Coast America than West Coast Australia.
Food & Drink
Tribe’s in-house restaurant, Feels Like June, continues to channel the Golden State. The 200-cover all-day dining destination is a light-filled, open space featuring cozy banquettes, lush greenery, and stylish retro tiles. Consider the outdoors duly brought in.
If the weather prohibits al fresco sundowners on the terrace, Feels Like June’s oval bar is well worth propping up. The spirits list is mightily impressive and the cocktails treated with due deference.
This dining and drinking areas are flanked by the hotel’s 24-hour Grab & Go counter – it very own in-house coffee shop, perfect for those who don’t have the time or inclination for a sit-down breakfast.
The building itself is home to Dishoom; it sits opposite a Patty & Bun; and just across the water from Canary Wharf's Hawksmoor outpost – so you're not going to go hungry here.
The rooms
The overarching concept for Tribe is a design hotel at an affordable price: so there’s plenty of style here, but there has to be some compromise – and that comes in the room size.
If the downstairs is more LA, the upstairs is more New York. Ranging from 14 sqm up to 21 sqm, the bedrooms are small but, more importantly, perfectly formed. The ethos is ‘everything guests need and nothing they don’t’ – and Tribe gets that pretty much spot on.
Floor-to-ceiling windows help open up the space, as do the House & Garden-worthy herringbone parquet floors. The king-size beds are extremely comfortable, the wifi is fast and free, and the shower is dutifully rainfall-like.
There’s a hand-held steamer instead of an ironing board – and flatscreen TV big enough to give the local Everyman a run for its money. Complimentary brownie bites on arrival were a nice touch, too.
Plump for a Comfort XL room and you’ll get a dual-aspect room overlooking Wood Wharf. You know you've made it when you've bagged the corner office.
Rooms start from £110 per night. Tribe London Canary Wharf, 15 Water Street, London, E14 9SB, 020 3530 7700, mytribehotel.com
