Best Hotels in London for Every Budget
Our Tried and Tested Picks From Mayfair to Shoreditch
London is the city we come back to more than anywhere else. We have stayed across properties in Mayfair, Covent Garden, the South Bank and East London, from classic five-star luxury to design hotels in the heart of the West End to apartment hotels for gigs. Each stay teaches you something different about a city that never gives you everything at once. Get the location right and London is one of the great travel experiences in the world. Get it wrong and you spend half your trip on the Tube.
The hotels on this list come from years of returning. Some we have stayed in more times than we can count. The May Fair is our Mayfair home base. St Martins Lane is the design hotel we keep going back to in Covent Garden. We have stayed at the Lanesborough, citizenM London Bridge, Z Hotel Shoreditch and an aparthotel in East London for a Gorillaz show. These picks reflect real stays and honest opinions across every budget and neighbourhood.
This guide covers the best hotels in London for every budget, from iconic five-star luxury stays to boutique design hotels and great value options across the citybased on our stays and research.
Best Neighborhoods to Stay in London:
| Mayfair and St James’s. London’s most prestigious postcodes. Bond Street, Hyde Park and the finest hotels in the country within walking distance. Best when budget is not the primary concern. West End and Covent Garden. Theatre, world-class restaurants and the energy of central London on your doorstep. The best all-round base for a first visit or short break, central to everything without the Mayfair price tag. Knightsbridge and Belgravia. Harrods, Hyde Park and some of London’s grandest hotel properties. Quieter and more residential than Mayfair with exactly the same level of luxury and service. South Bank and London Bridge. Borough Market, Tate Modern and Thames views. Excellent transport connections and significantly better value than the West End. Our pick for travellers who want atmosphere over postcode. Shoreditch and East London. London’s creative neighbourhood. Street art, independent restaurants, live music venues every night and a completely different energy from the tourist centre. The Tube connects you to everything in under 20 minutes. The City. London’s financial district. Quiet at weekends, excellent transport links and some extraordinary converted buildings that become genuinely exciting hotels when the suits go home. |
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission if you book through our links, at no extra cost to you. We only recommend hotels we’d stay at ourselves.
Luxury Hotels in London
London has some of the finest hotels in the world. These are the properties that have defined the city’s reputation for luxury hospitality for over a century.
Claridge’s
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Location: Mayfair, Brook Street
Why Stay Here: The most iconic hotel in London and the one that has defined British luxury hospitality for over a century. The Art Deco lobby is worth the visit alone. The scale and detail remind you that some buildings are genuinely irreplaceable. The Davies and Brook restaurant by Daniel Humm is among London’s finest. Christmas trees designed by fashion houses each year, afternoon tea in the Reading Room that never disappoints and rooms that make arriving feel like an occasion. Bond Street, Hyde Park and Green Park are all walkable from the door. If you are doing one serious London splurge, this is the one we would point you to every time.
Price Range: $$$$
The Savoy
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Location: Strand, between Covent Garden and the Thames
Why Stay Here: London’s original grand hotel has been welcoming guests since 1889 and it has never really been bettered for atmosphere or occasion. The American Bar is one of the great hotel bars in the world. The cocktail list alone justifies the visit. The Thames Foyer does an afternoon tea that lives up to its setting. Thames-facing rooms look out over the river and Waterloo Bridge in a way that reminds you why London is unlike anywhere else. The Strand location puts you between Covent Garden and the Embankment, which is one of the best central London positions you can have.
Price Range: $$$$
The Lanesborough
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Location: Hyde Park Corner, Knightsbridge
Why Stay Here: We have stayed at The Lanesborough and it is the hotel that most changed how we think about what luxury actually means. Every room comes with a dedicated butler. This sounds indulgent until you experience it and wonder how you ever stayed anywhere else. The Regency-era building at Hyde Park Corner is one of the most beautiful in London. Hyde Park is directly on your doorstep. The Library Bar serves one of the longest whisky lists in the city in a setting that feels like a private members’ club. Worth every pound for a special occasion stay.
Price Range: $$$$
The May Fair Hotel
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Location: Mayfair, Stratton Street
Why Stay Here: Our Mayfair hotel of choice and the one we have returned to more times than anywhere else in central London. The May Fair hits a sweet spot that very few London luxury hotels manage: genuinely five-star without the intimidating formality that some of the grand old names carry. The rooms are beautifully designed, the bar is excellent and the Stratton Street location puts you two minutes from Green Park station and everything the West End has to offer. We have stayed here for weekend breaks, work trips and special occasions and it consistently delivers. The rooftop spa is a genuine bonus.
Price Range: $$$
The Connaught
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Location: Mayfair, Carlos Place
Why Stay Here: Consistently voted one of the best hotels in the world and somehow still the most underplayed of the Mayfair luxury properties. The Connaught Bar has won best bar in the world multiple times. The martini trolley is a genuine London experience. The service is exceptional in a way that feels personal rather than corporate. The Aman Spa is among the finest in the city. For a first truly grand London hotel stay, or for when you want the very best Mayfair has to offer, this is where we would point people every time.
Price Range: $$$$
Boutique and Design Hotels in London
For travellers who want personality, strong design and the London that feels alive rather than simply grand.
St Martins Lane Hotel
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Location: Covent Garden, St Martins Lane
Why Stay Here: Our most visited London hotel and the one we keep returning to more than anywhere else in the city. An Ian Schrager design classic from 1999 that has aged better than almost anything from that era. The all-white rooms, the theatrical lobby and the Light Bar with its shifting colour scheme still feel completely fresh. The Covent Garden location is perfect, with theatres on one side, Soho a short walk away and the whole West End all around you. We have stayed here for weekend breaks, work trips and occasions when London needs to feel special. It never disappoints and it never gets old.
Price Range: $$$
Hotel Café Royal
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Location: Regent Street, between Mayfair and Soho
Why Stay Here: The original Café Royal on Regent Street hosted Oscar Wilde and the Britpop generation before being transformed into one of London’s most stylish hotels. The Norman Foster-designed spa is among the finest in central London. The Ten Room cocktail bar and the beautifully restored Oscar Wilde Bar are destinations in their own right, whether you are staying or not. The Regent Street location between Mayfair and Soho gives you one of the best positions in London for walking to almost everything the city does well.
Price Range: $$$$
Ham Yard Hotel
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Location: Soho, Ham Yard
Why Stay Here: The Firmdale Hotels property that does Soho best. Built around a village square concept with an outdoor courtyard, rooftop terrace, bowling alley, cinema and restaurants that feel nothing like a hotel operation. 91 individually designed rooms with the kind of specific personality that only comes from a genuine design vision, handmade rather than corporate. If you want to stay in Soho and have it feel like the best version of Soho, this is the hotel. The neighbourhood is on your doorstep and the hotel itself gives you a reason to stay in even when London is pulling you out.
Price Range: $$$$
The Ned
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Location: The City, Poultry Street
Why Stay Here: A former Lutyens banking hall from 1924 that is now one of London’s most extraordinary hotel and dining destinations. Nine restaurants under one roof, a rooftop bar with City views, a members’ club atmosphere and hotel rooms that feel lifted from a 1920s ocean liner. The City location means quieter streets at weekends and rates that drop significantly from the weekday business price. Best for travellers who want architecture, real atmosphere and somewhere that genuinely feels unlike anywhere else in the world.
Price Range: $$$
South Bank, Shoreditch and East London Hotels
For Borough Market mornings, Tate Modern afternoons, live music every night and the creative London that never makes it onto the postcard.
Sea Containers London
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Location: South Bank, Upper Ground
Why Stay Here: One of the South Bank’s great hotels, sitting right on the Thames between Waterloo and Blackfriars Bridge with river views that rival anything in the city. Tom Dixon-designed interiors throughout, Thames-facing rooms looking directly at St Paul’s and the City skyline, and the Lyaness cocktail bar that has been repeatedly voted among the world’s best. Tate Modern, Borough Market, the National Theatre and the entire South Bank cultural stretch are steps from the door. Significantly better value than equivalent-quality hotels in Mayfair or Knightsbridge for a location that genuinely delivers.
Price Range: $$$
The Hoxton Shoreditch
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Location: Shoreditch, Great Eastern Street
Why Stay Here: The original Hoxton and still the best place to stay if Shoreditch is where you want to be. The lobby and Hoxton Grill always carry a local creative energy rather than a hotel-guest atmosphere, which is exactly right when you are in East London for the culture rather than the postcode. Smart, well-designed rooms, excellent coffee and a location that puts you within walking distance of the best street art, independent restaurants and bars in the city. Old Street Tube connects you to the West End and the City in under 20 minutes.
Price Range: $$
Z Hotel Shoreditch
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Location: Shoreditch, Hoxton Square area
Why Stay Here: We have stayed here and found that the Z Hotels formula works perfectly in Shoreditch. Compact rooms, excellent design and a location that is genuinely hard to beat at this price. The honest truth is that you spend very little time in the room because the neighbourhood outside is too good: Hoxton Square, Brick Lane, Spitalfields Market, the best independent coffee in London and live music every night of the week. For an East London base that does not cost central London prices, Z Hotel Shoreditch consistently delivers.
Price Range: $-$$
Adagio Aparthotel London Stratford
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Location: Stratford, East London
Why Stay Here: We stayed here for a Gorillaz show at the Olympic Park and it was exactly the right call: nice rooms, proper space and zero stress getting to the venue. Aparthotel-style rooms with kitchenettes mean more space than a standard hotel at this price, which makes a real difference for a city stay. The Stratford location puts you directly on the Elizabeth line for fast connections to central London and right beside the Olympic Park, Westfield and the East London venue circuit. If you are coming to London for a show at any of the East London venues, or just want more room without paying central London prices, this is a genuinely good base.
Price Range: $-$$
Great Value Hotels in London
London does not have to be expensive. These hotels deliver central locations, smart design and the full city experience without the full London price tag.
citizenM Tower of London
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Location: Tower Hill, The City
Why Stay Here: The Tower Hill location puts you on the river, steps from the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, with Borough Market and London Bridge accessible on foot across the bridge. The same formula as citizenM London Bridge, with beautifully designed compact rooms, sociable lobbies and a rooftop bar, but with views of one of London’s great landmarks from your window. Consistently excellent value for a central riverside position that would cost significantly more at a traditional hotel.
Price Range: $$
Z Hotel Soho
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Location: Soho, Dean Street
Why Stay Here: The Z Hotels formula of compact rooms, great design and unbeatable location is at its most effective in Soho. One of the most central addresses in London, with the West End, Covent Garden, Oxford Street and the best restaurants in the city all walkable from the door. The rooms are deliberately small but the whole of central London becomes your living room. For a short London break where you are out from morning until late, Z Hotel Soho is excellent value for the postcode.
Price Range: $-$$
Yotel London Waterloo
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Location: Waterloo, South Bank
Why Stay Here: Yotel takes space efficiency seriously and makes it work. The cabin-style rooms are genuinely clever rather than just cramped. Waterloo station and the South Bank are immediately accessible, putting you a short walk from everything on the river. The price is significantly lower than comparable central London locations, which makes it an excellent choice for a city break when you plan to be out from morning to night and need a well-located, comfortable base to return to.
Price Range: $-$$
London rewards the traveller who gets the base right. Stay in Mayfair and the city feels like a different capital from Shoreditch. Stay on the South Bank and Borough Market becomes part of your morning. Choose Covent Garden and the West End is outside your door. These hotels represent the best of what London offers at every price point, from the full chandelier experience at Claridge’s to a design room in East London for a gig. Use the booking links above to check current rates and availability.
FAQ About Hotels in London
What is the best area to stay in London for first-time visitors?
The West End and Covent Garden give you the best all-round base. You are central to everything, the transport connections are excellent and the hotel options cover every budget. Mayfair is better if budget is not a concern. The South Bank is increasingly our pick for first-timers who want atmosphere, great food and excellent value.
Are London hotels expensive?
London can be expensive, particularly in Mayfair and Knightsbridge where five-star hotels regularly exceed £500 per night. But there are genuinely excellent options at every price point. The South Bank and East London consistently offer better value than the West End for a similar quality of stay. Booking ahead and travelling midweek makes a significant difference.
Is it better to stay in Mayfair or Covent Garden?
Mayfair is quieter, more prestigious and the hotels are among the finest in the world. Covent Garden is livelier, closer to theatres and restaurants, and the hotels offer excellent value relative to Mayfair. For a city break where you want to be in the middle of everything, Covent Garden. For a luxury occasion where the hotel is the experience, Mayfair.
Should I stay near the South Bank in London?
Yes, particularly if you want Borough Market on your doorstep, easy access to Tate Modern and the South Bank, and better value than the West End. Borough Market alone is a reason to base yourself here. The Thames views from South Bank hotels at this price point are genuinely exceptional.
How far in advance should I book London hotels?
For peak summer travel or major events like Wimbledon, Chelsea Flower Show, Notting Hill Carnival or the London Marathon, book at least two to three months ahead. London hotels fill quickly across all seasons. For the best rates at luxury properties, early booking often makes a significant price difference.
What is the best hotel in London for a special occasion?
Claridge’s for the iconic Art Deco experience and the sense of genuine occasion. The Connaught for the world’s best bar and exceptional service. The Lanesborough for butler service and Hyde Park Corner. The May Fair for luxury without formality and the one we keep returning to. Each delivers a completely different version of what a special London stay can be.
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