Sweet home Alabama! This old art-deco boozer – once a grim, sticky-carpet lush magnet – has settled into a new life as a boutique budget hotel. None of the 17 rooms has a bathroom, but the shared facilities are immaculate. Decor is funky and colourful with retro-deco flourishes, and there's an all-day bar with a sunny balcony overhanging busy Liverpool St.
The environmentally savvy hotel's habits include keeping plastics and packaging to minimum, the use of natural cleaning products, a ban on disposable coffee cups, and unpackaged soaps.
Four rooms have murals, including one of a thylacine – you can request it on booking.