The previous lives of London hotels
Some of London’s best places to stay are buildings that used to be something else altogether. Join us as we examine the London hotels with fascinating previous lives … The NoMad Not enough hotels have their own museum. The NoMad does. It’s set in what used to be the Bow Street magistrate’s court, where the likes of Oscar Wilde and Dr Crippen were committed for trial. It has skilfully reinvented itself from being a working court as late as the early 1990s – complete with grim-looking holding cells and even a drunk tank – into one of the city’s most stylish and elegant luxury hotels. Designed by the New York architects Rowan and Williams, it manages to marry Manhattan chic with British eccentricity.
