The world’s first fully vegan room service has launched and we’ve had a peek inside the London hotel heralding it, which has central London views from the windows of some of its rooms.
The St Giles London hotel in Bloomsbury, central London, is a relatively upmarket stay, with its best design features in the newly refurbished lobby and reception areas.
Those have a monochrome palette and an industrial feel, with fixtures and fittings disrupting the space with clean lines, against high ceilings. A relaxed service style means check in staff are placed at check in ‘hubs’ rather than traditional desks, and a statement staircase sits below a modern glass chandelier.
The rooms are more traditional. Bold colour schemes play their part, but the real sell is the views, which for central London are good (most central London hotels have obstructed views due to the general low rise nature of the buildings). The hotel is located at the Tottenham Court Road end of Oxford Street, so the views reach theatres, nightlife, restaurants, bars and main thoroughfares of the area.
But the hotel have made the news recently for their vegan room service menu launch. Their fully plant-based menu is provided by Bol – a firm who say their “mission is to make it easy to eat more plants, even if you don’t have the time to cook from scratch”.
The company offer fuss-free, straightforward dishes company founder Paul Brown confesses may not “win any medals”, but will provide an access point to easy, attainable vegetarian and vegan food.
“Being in Cali opened my eyes to the world of healthy fast-food,” he says. “My vision of building a healthy food brand finally came to life… with the help of expert nutritionists, top chefs and some friends who feel the way I do about food, I set up BOL. It’s been a hell of a journey so far, and it’s become pretty clear to us that more than ever we have a responsibility to change the way we eat. Put simply, we need to eat less meat and more plants. It turns out my Mum was right, we need to eat more veg. It’s better for our wellbeing and kinder to the planet.”
Vegetable pots, salad jars and soup bowls will all appear on the menu, but for a start, the dishes will only be available in the executive suites.
It’s a distinct change in direction for the hotel, who have never provided room service before, let alone vegan room service. Abigail Tan-Giroud, the CEO of the hotel, is a fan of Bol and made contact with the brand.
“The partnership with BOL is a result of a growing trend in hotel guests looking to keep up their healthy habits when travelling abroad, especially on business. We have seen a dramatic increase in visitors requesting gym passes, vegan and vegetarian restaurant recommendations and guides for running and cycling in the city. Our partnership is an exciting step towards the future of room service and a reflection of London as the conscious cosmopolitan capital,” she says.
Bol dishes are available at the hotel now
