room2 is a hometels concept that looks to combine the best elements from Airbnb, serviced apartments and boutique hotels

room2 Chiswick

It was started by brothers Robert and Stuart Godwin, former members of the British Olympic Development Sailing team, and is designed to appeal to corporate and leisure guests and those seeking alternative forms of residential accommodation. 

The first two homeless were the Southampton Hometel and Hammersmith Townhouse. 

The latest property to join the portfolio is the room2 Chiswick, which claims to be the world’s first whole life net zero hotel. 

Chiswick is a leafy, affluent London district with a village feel and offering independent shops, wine bars, and high-end restaurants along Chiswick High Road. 

A footpath runs past the historic pubs and 18th-century homes of Strand-on-the-Green, a picturesque Thameside street. 

The Roman-style Chiswick House contains Old Master paintings and has manicured gardens with picnic and play areas. 

room2 Chiswick has reclaimed terracotta floors in the lobby, which are covered in locally sourced plants. 

The corridors are lined with carpets made from plastic fishnets collected from the ocean. 

Other bespoke features include handmade mosaic signs on each bedroom door by local designer Janita OToole and dried flowers in the bedrooms. 

room2 Chiswick

room2 Chiswick uses ultra-energy efficient lighting, occupancy sensors across the building, solar panels and ground source heat pumps, which create the energy needed for heating, cooling and hot water. 

Other sustainable initiatives include a blue roof, which can hold up to 50,000 litres of rainwater to reduce localised flooding and a green roof, with soil and wildflowers, to increase biodiversity and absorb CO2. 

room2 Chiswick is also zero waste to landfill, and one of the first hotels to separate food waste from mixed packaging in custom made in-room recycling bins. 

www.room2.com/chiswick 

Ellen Christophers at echristophers@grifcopr.com