The Ned

About The Ned

The Ned occupies the old Midland Bank headquarters on Poultry, a Grade I listed building designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens - hence the name - and completed in the 1920s. It is one of the more successful conversions of its kind in London. The banking hall on the ground floor, a vast space of green verdite columns and marble, has been turned into a run of restaurants that share one enormous room, with a band playing most evenings from a stage in the middle of it.

There are several hundred bedrooms above, spread over the upper floors, ranging from small crash-pad rooms to large suites with the original bank fittings still in place. The design leans on 1920s and 1930s references - rattan, dark wood, vintage rugs, big brass bathroom fittings - and it is consistent enough to feel deliberate rather than themed. Rooms at the back are quieter; those on the Poultry side get the view of Mansion House and the Bank junction.

Part of the building is a members' club, and hotel guests get access to the club floors, which include a rooftop pool and bar with a view across the City to St Paul's, a gym, and a spa and barbershop in the old vault downstairs. The vault itself, with its twenty-tonne door, is now a cocktail bar.

It works best for people who want the City and Shoreditch rather than the West End. Bank station is at the door, St Paul's, the Barbican, Borough Market and Spitalfields are all walkable, and rates drop noticeably at weekends when the Square Mile empties out - which is when the building is at its most enjoyable.