Last Updated on March 27, 2025

A comfortable, quiet hotel in London’s Southbank

Are you looking for a stylish, quiet, hotel in London’s Southbank where you can be close to everything London has to offer? Ruby Lucy Hotel, part of the Ruby Hotel group, certainly fits the bill for a city break or overnight stay in comfort. Opening on New Year’s Eve 2019 this hotel, less than 5 minutes walk from Waterloo Station, has been modernised to the highest level; in keeping with the ethos of ‘Lean Luxury’, attention has been paid to maximising space to the full. The result is a unique, understated and quality experience in the heart of London, without unnecessary extras.

The reception is informal, with easy check-in and check-out at the bar, friendly and helpful staff are on hand to answer any questions. A quirky fairground theme dominates the communal areas of the hotel, from the stunning bright red swing seats in the entrance lobby and the car hanging suspended high above it to the colourful panels adorning the bar.

The seating area has a mix of chairs, sofas and tables which come together to make for a cosy atmosphere. Rather than drink-making facilities within the rooms, each floor has a gallery with a hot water tap and plentiful supplies of tea & coffee.

I was a guest at Ruby Lucy for an overnight stay.  And, I had the bonus of an extremely interesting panel discussion on sleep from renowned experts Dr Guy Meadows, Clinical Director at the Sleep School, and Lisa San Filippo, a psychotherapist and yoga therapist who has written two books about sleeping better. Ruby Hotels have designed all their venues with great consideration given to helping guests to get a good night’s sleep.  While it’s often difficult to find a quiet hotel in a central position in city centres, we all know how vital it is to get enough sleep. The disruption to normal life caused by the Covid pandemic has had an added impact on sleep quality for a lot of people.

What I personally found interesting was learning how we need to try and calm our thoughts and emotions as well as thinking about the physical environment of the bedroom. As someone who does not sleep well any tips to help me sleep better are always welcome. Relaxation techniques associated with yoga can help to restore balance and give us time to wind down ready for sleep from a hectic lifestyle. Noise, light, temperature, and air quality all affect our physical state when we are going to sleep and how long we sleep.

At Ruby Lucy, the bar drinks menu offers several sleep-inducing cocktails to help guests drift off to sleep, from Lucy’s Lullaby (containing lavender, ashwagandha, lemon, lime and blueberries) to Moonmilk (made from oat milk, butterfly pea flower, mint and blueberry).

Ruby Lucy has 75 rooms of different types on four floors, from the loft rooms, (the largest), to Wow, these rooms are all accessible, as well as Lovely, Comfy and Nest (the smallest). The corridors are darkly decorated to give a relaxed feel of nighttime. The rooms are spotlessly clean, modern, and sleek with everything you need for your stay.

I was staying in a ‘Lovely’ room on the fourth floor with crisp, white décor, an inviting bed, a cosy leather armchair and a whitewashed wooden floor. I loved the elegant sink and stylish mirror hanging above it. There are adjustable lighting controls so you can choose to have bright lights or more subtle lighting, full-length blackout curtains and room temperature controls.  One wall of my room was screened off with an opaque door to the quality toilet with an adjoining shower cubicle containing a powerful shower; toiletries are provided including divine-smelling night and day shower gel, soap, lotion, shampoo, and conditioner.

Ruby Hotels place great emphasis on having a good bed, all the rooms have oversized beds with high-quality bed linen in line with the philosophy of lean luxury. My bed at Ruby Lucy was probably the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept in. Amazingly, the room was blissfully quiet and dark for somewhere so close to the Southbank and bustling Waterloo station.

The breakfast is an enticing continental-style buffet with an emphasis on fresh quality ingredients; pastries, fruit, cereals, cheese, meat and eggs and superfoods. I chose a cup of delicious freshly made Barista coffee and fresh orange juice.

If you are thinking of an overnight stay or city break in London Ruby Lucy Hotel would be an excellent option. With its location in London’s Southbank, it is close to the underground and mainline station at Waterloo, the River Thames and central London so equally perfect for shopping, the theatre and sightseeing. The bar is open 24/7 and would be a great place to meet friends for a catch-up over drinks and snacks.