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