Hotels in East End

It is said that to be a true bona fide Cockney, you need to be born within earshot of the Bow Bells, This would make quite a good gage - apart from the claimant's penchant for pies, mash and jellied eels - if the said Bells were actually in Bow, but they're at St Mary-le-Bow in Cheapside, which gives the East End rather different boundaries. Still, plunging yourself into the region east of the City of London up to the River Lea and north of The Thames will give you a pretty broad experience of what the real East End is like. It hasn't got the "top 10" attractions of Central London, the choice in hotels of the West End or the pretty affluence of West London but some prefer its character and edginess. The history of the East End is one of spirit and resilience through poverty, decline in industry and the Blitz and some of these stories can be discovered at the Ragged School Museum and the Museum in Docklands. But new life has blossomed too and it's easy to find; explore the art galleries around Hoxton including White Cube, Rivington Place and Victoria Miro, spice up your taste buds on London's "Curry Mile" of Brick Lane and wander through the glorious spectacle of Columbia Road Flower Market on a Sunday morning. More