Jesmond Hotel

Alexander Hendy built 63 Gower Street in 1786 as one of thirteen houses commissioned by Gertrude, Duchess of Bedford, and the Jesmond Hotel now occupies that Georgian townhouse in Bloomsbury. Its facade keeps the original six-panelled door, sash windows and Flemish bond brickwork, darkened over two centuries by London soot rather than recent weathering. The Beynon family ran the bed and breakfast from 1979 until 2023, when the Shivaprasad family took over and kept its family-run character. Rooms sit across the Georgian floors, a short walk from Russell Square and the British Museum, with a continental breakfast served each morning in the ground-floor dining room. Visit London has approved the property, and TripAdvisor named it a 2022 Travellers' Choice recipient. The narrow staircases and period proportions reflect the house's origins as a private residence rather than a purpose-built hotel.