The Distillery has four floors dedicated to gin, with three guest rooms overlooking market street on Portobello Road.

The ground floor does indeed have gin barrels suspended from the ceiling and there are dozens of gins on offer from around the world. The first photographs show red velvet stools and red leather booths in The Resting Room bar on the ground floor, with old-fashioned gin advertisements on wooden mounts on the walls. It feels like going right back to the Victorian era with a modern twist.

The Resting Room is a timeless cocktail bar nestled off the hustle and bustle of Portobello Road, serving an eclectic range of spirits created on-site and served fresh off their 400L copper pot still, King Henry, by master distiller Jake Burger and his elite team of gin instructors.

The drinks meanwhile are delicately prepared. Try the Nordes Atlantic Galician Gin (liquorice and hibiscus botanics) with a pink Aromatic Fever Tree tonic (flavoured with angostura bark and pimento berries) and edible flower garnish.

Staff at The Distillery claim that no two drinks are ever the same here, because the gin is stored in barrels so that the flavour keeps developing. Also try the West Winds Sabre Gin with 1724 tonic, garnished with orange, lavender and cocoa nibs. And if you particularly enjoy your gin drink, there is actually an on-site off-license inside the hotel.

So being a hotel, it actually has rooms, but only three. In them you’ll be pretty pleased to find a gin minibar, vintage record player and lots of gin memorabilia on the walls. Rooms are a decent (by London standards) £125 per night. The bedrooms are on the top floor of the hotel, where there is a private dining room /boardroom and another bar.

The Distillery is in the heart of West London (Picture: The Distillery)

The first floor is the GinTonica restaurant and bar, which is a nod to the traditional Spanish Copa de Balon shaped glass (it really is the best glass for gin).

The Ginstitute, where guests can learn how to make gin, has also opening inside the hotel along with a gin museum that takes people through a 300-year history of the spirit.

Founder of Portobello Road Gin and The Distillery Ged Feltham (third from left) said: “We already have bookings for The Distillery from across Europe and even as far afield as South Africa – and the positive response to the project so far has been overwhelming!

“Not only does the new distillery mean we can continue to produce our product on Portobello Road, it has allowed us to expand our hugely successful gin-making experience, ‘The Ginstitute’, which had outgrown its original venue.

“The most exciting parts of the project are the new and unexpected opportunities that have come with a development of this size and scale. We are proud purveyors of London spirit and we look forward to exciting guests from around the globe with amazing gin and other wonderful new distillates and aged spirits.’

More info at The Distillery

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