Royal Foundation of St. Katharine

Excellent place to stay to visit London. Clean rooms. Good breakfast. A few minutes walk to Limehouse station.

Tucked away in the back streets of Limehouse is this astonishing oasis of peace and calm.
Operated by the Church of England, St Katharine’s is a retreat centre and conference facility. As well as for religious use, it is available to a wide range of not-​for-​profit organisations for conferences, meetings, training events and away-​days. It is increasingly booked by individual visitors as well, subject to availability.
It has an intriguing history: it was originally founded in 1147 by Queen Matilda as a religious community and medieval hospital for poor and infirm people, next to the Tower of London. in 1273, Queen Eleanor granted a new Charter reserving the Foundation’s patronage to the Queens of England. Until her death in 2002, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was its patron, a role which has now passed on to the present Queen.
In 1825 the foundation’s land was acquired for St Katharine’s Dock, and it moved to a site at Regent’s Park as a residential almshouse. It moved back to the East End in 1948 as a retreat centre, located on the site of a bombed-​out parish church. The buildings were modernised and expanded in 2002 to offer wider hospitality facilities, but some of the rooms in the original Clergy House are suitably grand in the traditional Georgian style. The staff are very helpful and pleasant, although it is not as intensively staffed as commercial premises — no IT technicians available late at night, for example. But then, you are paying rather less, too.
Despite this, it still has the feel of a retreat centre: the buildings are attractively grouped around a central quadrangle with lawns and mature trees, and there is a chapel on one side with daily services. It really is a haven from the outside world (and there are high walls around it to keep the outside world at bay, figuratively and literally).
Hire rates are considerably lower than commercial premises, but the feel is still of a modern conference facility. It can cater for groups up to 70, though I think it works better with about half that number. There are meeting and break-​out rooms, a library and a single large semi-​circular conference room with a curved glass wall.
The 44 bedrooms are modern, clean and comfortable, but a little spartan — because of its use as a retreat, there are no televisions or telephones in the rooms, although it does now have Wifi. But from £65 a night for bed and breakfast (2014), it offers astonishing value for central London. Note, however, prices vary according to availability, and rise to £119 for B&B. Meals are also amazing in quality and quantity for the price — you won’t starve!
There is a small gated car-​park at the main entrance, and it is just a short walk from Limehouse DLR station. The facilities are fully accessible.