A strange venture for the Libertines, a band that crashed around Camden in the 00s
At some point we’re going to have to confront the idea of whether the Libertines’ new venture The Albion Rooms is a hotel or not, so we may as well do it now and I am going to argue not. Sure, the place has all the markers of a hotel – lush-smelling locked-to-the-wall handsoap in the bathrooms (Haeckels bladderwrack + fennel, in case you were wondering), a miniature fridge in every room, large room keys tied to a massive wooden pellet as a keyring. A bunch of things that convincingly make the argument that The Albion Rooms is a hotel. But then you go through a door and a band is merrily recording a single in there. Then you open your wardrobe and there’s a quite frightening picture of Jesus painted inside. There’s tea and coffee facilities but there’s also a curated box of Libertines-endorsed vape juice, sitting by the teabags. At some point during the night, the mask of “hotel” slips, and The Albion Rooms becomes something other: an escape room just for goths, an afterparty from a very sumptuous music video. It’s less a boutique B&B, more a place you happen to sleep in while having the luckiest bender of your life.
Related: The Libertines review – still creating their own mythic England
