9.1
London · €€€€
The Goring
A family owned Edwardian house behind Buckingham Palace, with a garden of its own
Grand hotelsStarred restaurantFamily hotelsCity centreOwn transfer
United Kingdom · 2 hotels
London
The city where the grand hotel never went out of fashion
Best months
SeasonSpring and early autumn are mildest, December is busy and festive, and July can be hot in older houses without air conditioning.
AirportsHeathrow is the main gateway with the Elizabeth line running into the centre, while Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and London City serve short haul routes, with City closest to Canary Wharf and the East.
London's hotel scene is defined by its grand houses: Edwardian and Victorian palaces around Mayfair, St James's and Knightsbridge that still run an afternoon tea service and a proper concierge desk. Around them sit smaller townhouse hotels in Marylebone, Chelsea and Bloomsbury, often with a dozen rooms, a garden square outside and no lobby to speak of. Design hotels cluster east in Shoreditch and Clerkenwell, and the newer riverside openings along the South Bank bring views the old guard never had.
The advantages travellers find here are mostly urban: central location, dogs welcomed in a surprising number of houses, family suites in the big hotels and quiet rooms facing inner courtyards. Spring and early autumn are the pleasant months. Insiders skip the West End for a base near a Tube line they actually use, and book rooms facing the garden, since the traffic noise on the main roads never really stops.
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