The clue was surely in the name. Any hotel prepared to allocate you a "Fun Room" is giving away quite a lot about its attitude to guests.
That approach is reinforced by the tone of the welcome letter sent before you arrive at Qbic London City near the capital's "tragically hip" Shoreditch district: the message is informative but chatty, written without condescension as if to a friend, and definitely not cluttered by Terms and Conditions.
So you're probably already smiling when you enter and look in vain for the reception desk...it doesn't exist. Which removes an immediate us-and-them divide between staff and residents.
To keep you in the mood, the lift to the bedrooms is decorated not with a picture but a real guitar and a thought-provoking aphorism which changes every day.
It would be easy to dismiss these touches, and for that matter Qbic's name (say it out loud), as mere gimmicks to dress up what, for a weary traveller, is simply another hotel.
Granted, another selling point is that the design chic is cheap - rooms start at only £69 a night. But this relatively new contender in London's burgeoning range of accommodation also demonstrates a commitment to what, for most, really matters: a comfy bed and a good shower.
The former comes courtesy of Naturalmat, a Devon company which makes all their beds by hand and fills mattresses with natural, organic local lambswool. After a pre-dinner nap and later a long sleep, only partly helped by alcohol, I'm a convert. And then the power shower did its job.
But with those boxes more than adequately ticked, there's time to appreciate the other aspects of a hotel which stays true to its founding philosophy: "We treat a hotel not merely as a place to sleep but as a meeting place for the like-minded. A theatre for the spontaneous. A space that opens to its surrounding area and welcomes life in. This is why you're welcome to take your breakfast out to the park across the road. Or have your meeting in the lounge."
Now that might not work for all guests, especially those who expect hotel staff to be scurrying about in servile fashion to meet their every need. And, to be honest, I didn't get involved in either a spontaneous drama (that I was aware of) or eat al fresco. But it was reassuring to know I could do either without comment.
I settled for the slightly more conservative option of chilling in the open-plan kitchen/dining room/lounge, engaging in some old-fashioned people-watching. They were Qbic people.
The company's first establishment was opened in Amsterdam in 2008 and its 171-bedroom sister in Shoreditch, a perfect venue for striking out to London's attractions, is the first of 10 Qbics planned for launch across the UK.
I suspect you'll be hearing more about them and get your own chance to see if you agree with this statement: "Hotels shouldn't shut life out. They should make your life more interesting, and give you stories to tell."
Calum Macdonald stayed as a guest of Qbic London City. Prices for a Fun Room start at £94 a night. For more information go here
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article