100 best British hotels: London (2024)

WINNER L’Oscar New
London WC1
R D A £££
Holborn’s grade II listed former headquarters of the Baptist church has been revamped and renamed after Oscar Wilde, so it really had to be subversive as well as chic. Baroque flourishes such as stained glass and marble columns are offset by reams of purple silk, gilt mirrors, a flurry of peaco*ck feathers and 457 onyx lamps, whose soft glow is as flattering as an A-list airbrushing. Bedrooms are louche boudoirs, with his and hers toiletries by the master perfumer Roja Dove. Sinfully good modern British dishes are eaten under the dome of the old chapel; the Porthilly oysters taste so fresh, you can practically hear the swish of the Atlantic. At the camp co*cktail bar, take your pick from Old and New Testament concoctions: the latter concentrate on the seven deadly sins (gluttony seems appropriate). This is a place to be naughty in style. Remember what Wilde used to say: “I don’t want to go to heaven. None of my friends are there.”
Doubles from £333; mains from £12; loscar.com

A The Pilgrm New
London W2
R ££
It’s a hotel successfully masquerading as a neighbourhood hangout, so there’s no lobby or reception. Instead, you step into a cafe and queue for your keycard behind a local ordering a cold-pressed juice or a barista coffee. What these four Victorian townhouses in Paddington lack in space (73 rooms are threaded through the properties), they more than make up for in style. The bedrooms’ restored 200-year-old parquet floors and cast-iron radiators add class; the wall-hung ivy, a sense of wellbeing. No minibar, but there are well-stocked pantries on each floor.
Doubles from £129; small plates from £5.50; thepilgrm.com

B The Landmark London
London NW1
R A £££
You’ll possibly have driven past this grand property but never ventured inside. Everything about the imposing red-brick Victorian building is vast, from the palm-filled atrium to the buffet-breakfast spread. It’s convenient if you want to enjoy the waxworks at Madame Tussauds, stroll round Regent’s Park or shop on Marylebone High Street, but surprisingly quiet inside, given its location on one of the capital’s busiest roads. Like your hotels to be traditional rather than trendy? This one’s for you.
Doubles from £294; mains from £18; landmarklondon.co.uk

C Kettner’s Townhouse New
London W1
R D A ££
It’s been a mainstay of Soho life for more than 150 years; now, following a revamp by the Soho House empire, Kettner’s is back to its best. The Champagne Bar, with its horseshoe-shaped marble counter and 1920s flair, crackles with romance, while the restaurant’s fin de siècle frivolity, with a pianist tinkling away in the background, adds further sizzle. The bedrooms have striking William Morris wallpapers, curvaceous art-deco furniture and extravagant chandeliers. Even the “Tiny” rooms are a decent size, and surprisingly quiet, considering where you are.
Doubles from £180; mains from £12; kettnerstownhouse.com

D Kimpton Fitzroy London
London WC1
R D A £££
After a two-year, £85m renovation, the hotel formerly known as the Principal opened in April and brought megawatt glamour to Bloomsbury. Built in the 1890s by the man who designed the Titanic’s dining room, the grade II listed building, on Russell Square, is as lavish as you’d expect, with opulent art-deco design. We love the quintessentially English touches — rooms with tuckboxes of KitKats and Camden Pale Ale; teapots with knitted cosies; shelves of Penguin Classics. Giant crystal chandeliers hang between oil paintings mounted on the dark, wood-panelled walls. Fitz’s bar is an ode to the Gatsby era, with velvet sofas plumed with pink feathers. There’s live music on Wednesdays and DJ sets at the weekend.
Doubles from £225; mains from £12; kimptonfitzroylondon.co.uk

E The Coach - Best pub with rooms
London EC1
R ££
This handsomely refurbished 18th-century inn in London’s Dickensian-feel Clerkenwell district has restyled and updated the gastropub concept with verve. The food is bistro-French, viscerally carnivore (calf’s brain, rabbit leg, duck liver) and unfussily delicious. The decor is traditional — etched glass, globe lamps, panelling — yet interiors-magazine crisp. All four bedrooms are marvels of space management, with gleaming Victorian basins, white ceramic metro wall tiles and so-this-season heavy ferrous doors that slide apart like shoji screens.
Doubles from £165, B&B; mains from £16; thecoachclerkenwell.co.uk

F The Ned
London EC2
R D A ££
The Ned, once the HQ of the Midland Bank, was designed by the architect Edwin “Ned” Lutyens in 1924. He went big, with 92 green verdite-clad pillars in the old banking hall alone. Located above Bank station, it now offers 250 rooms showcasing some serious 1920s riches, such as tasselled chaises longues, heavy patterned curtains and mirrored co*cktail cabinets. The tellers have gone, but the walnut banking counters remain, spruced up and now dividing the buzzing restaurants and bars that dominate the lobby. The showstopper is the Vault Bar and Lounge, set behind the original 20-ton, 6½ft-wide vault door.
Doubles from £200; mains from £10; thened.com

G The East London Hotel New
London E2
A £
For a weekend jaunt to the dissolute, post-industrial playground of Hackney, this compact hotel provides everything the millennial traveller could need — which isn’t actually very much: speedy 24-hour check-in, roomy overhead showers and a well-stocked bar serving posh bacon bagels for breakfast. Opened earlier this month, it’s one of the new breed of casual indie hotels luring visitors away from Airbnb with an affordable, stripped-back formula. You’re seconds from the Central line and just a 15-minute walk from Victoria Park. Expect it to be buzzing next festival season.
Doubles from £85; theeastlondonhotel.com

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