With eight locations in London, the beloved Indian restaurant group Dishoom is widely praised for its beautifully nostalgic design and fantastic Bombay street food-inspired menus. Now, for the first time, the team behind the restaurants is inviting guests to not only dine but stay the night at the new Permit Room Lodging, which opened this month (June 2025) above its latest all-day bar/café, Permit Room Portobello.
Set above the ground-floor restaurant with its own private street entrance, the new accommodation is a private apartment, sleeping four and comprising of two en-suite bedrooms connected to a separate living room. The concept borrows inspiration from the traditional lodging houses in Bombay, comfortable places often run by Parsi proprietors. That same asthetic theme underpins these new digs.
“We kept coming back to wanting to keep things rooted in Bombay, and the warmth that envelops you the moment you arrive there,” says Shamil and Kavi Thakrar, Co-Founders of Dishoom and Permit Room, via press release.
“Bombayites are kind, generous and proud of their city. We thought, what if we could extend our hospitality to our guests even more fully? Some of our most cherished memories are from staying with friends and family in Bombay; the types of visits where the door is wide open and you’re ushered inside to be taken care of. What if we could transport our guests to a romantic Bombay residence? These feelings of nostalgia and looking after people to the best of our ability led us to come up with our Permit Room Lodgings.”
Working with acclaimed UK hospitality design studio Macaulay Sinclair, which also developed many of the group’s stylish restaurants, the team delved deep into Bombay’s past to guide the vibe. Research trips took them to local lodging houses, private family homes, and vintage Deco hotels including Bombay’s Bentley’s Hotel and Sea Green Hotel on Marine Drive.
One standout inspiration was Kekee Manzil, the 1920s home of legendary Bombay art patrons Kekoo and Khorshed Gandhy, where eclectic charm and layered personality offered a roadmap for the interiors. The end result is a space that feels as much like a cultured friend’s apartment as a boutique hotel. Over 30 original pieces of Bombay-sourced vintage furniture now sit proudly in the Lodgings, alongside bespoke beds, reclaimed parquet flooring and arched windows that pour light in.
Art plays a major role in this new chapter. Both the Lodgings and downstairs dining area are adorned with works curated by Rajiv Menon Contemporary, the Los Angelos-based gallery known for championing young South Asian artists. Expect bold, contemporary pieces by the likes of Mustafa Mohsin, Maya Varadaraj and Nibha Akireddy.
Other highlights at the Lodgings include Mauli Rituals amenities; a bespoke drinks cabinet stocked for cocktail-making; and a record player and hand-picked collection of vinyls, sourced from nearby record shop Rough Trade West, naturally. Books and magazines come courtesy of other Notting Hill neighbours Shreeji News and Books for Cooks. Each guest gets a Key to the City: Dishoom’s insider guide to London, full of handpicked spots and local perks, perfect for discovering the area like a resident. But the best perk? Dishoom’s famous complimentary chai is just a call away, plus guests get to skip to the front of the line at any Dishoom restaurant during their stay.
Rates starting at at £700 per night (with a two-night minimum).