Best Luxury Hotels in England

Privately owned, this hotel themes its rooms on high-brow local attractions: the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the Victoria & Albert and the Royal Albert Hall. So does its quirky and interactive Science Afternoon Tea, an award-winning experience – including jams served in petri dishes, chocolate spacemen and dinosaur biscuits – served in the Drawing Room. It’s understandably popular with children, but there’s also a grown-up version, featuring a cocktail flight. Venture beneath the building’s Victorian arches for a more substantial meal, in the Mediterranean eatery Apero. The 111 bedroom South Kensington hotel welcomes small pets in deluxe category rooms and above and won’t charge for their stay. Cots and extra beds can be added on request, for travelling families. 

Like The Gore, this hotel is part of the Starhotels Collezione group, an identity reflected in the otherwise quintessentially British hotel’s Italian basement restaurant. The Pelham’s vintage interiors have been refreshed by designer Kit Kemp, yet retain the original features, stuccoed ceilings and oil painted artworks that nod to its past. Housed in a Victorian townhouse across from the tube station, it’s super convenient for exploring the city. Children love the brand’s VIK (Very Important Kid) programme, with games, activities, menus and amenities. Pets are allowed to stay with you here, too. 

Kids and pets are welcome at this 150 room townhouse hotel. Enter from the bustling Old Brompton Road, into a haven of calm. In-suite Aromatherapy Associates toiletries, Nespresso machines and a minibar help guests to unwind in their own private space. Or there’s the softly lit classic club-style K-Bar, where you can relax with a cocktail on one of its divinely cosy sofas (look out for the bar’s brass doors, which used to belong to Dublin’s General Post Office, the backdrop for the Easter Rising in 1916). Be sure to make a booking at its restaurant, Town House, too. The Kensington is super stylish, sporting statement lighting and plenty of sumptuously tactile textiles. 

In recreating the rooms at the Connaught, Guy Oliver and Guy Collins have fused modern styling with retro touches which help keep the overall impression in harmony with this hotel’s architectural roots. Every room is generously apportioned, particularly the suites; the Sutherland Suite has its own Baby Grand Piano. Restaurant Helen Darroze at the Connaught offers a package that won her two Michelin stars. Relax in the restaurant’s magnificent interior, designed by India Mahdavi. Alternatively, dine at Jean-George’s where British classics blend with Southeast Asian flavours. The hotel also has a spa that offers a range of treatments and alternative therapies.

Fleming’s is situated on Half Moon Street. Here, modern luxury blends with a historical legacy that offers a range of accommodation packages to the modern traveller. From deluxe singles to double suites, there is something for everyone. Each room is colour-coordinated and incorporates key features of a previous artistic style. The hotel has a gym which boasts the latest cardiovascular and weight-resistance equipment. Dine at Ormer Mayfair, take afternoon tea in the Drawing Room or have cocktails in the Manetta’s Bar. It is all there to enjoy.

One hundred and twelve years after first opening as the brainchild of Cezar Ritz, The Ritz, London is still one of the world’s finest hotels. It was awarded the Royal Warrant in 2002, the only hotel to hold it. Staying at the Ritz is a five-star experience that combines old-world opulence with the highest level of customer service available anywhere. Eat in the Michelin-starred restaurant, still regarded by many as the most beautiful dining room on the planet or take afternoon tea on the terrace. The hotel is close to Green Park and the West End.

Food lovers will really be in their element at The Forest, as this Victoria mansion comes complete with its own Michelin-starred restaurant. The interiors are cool and elegant with plenty of colourful and contemporary touches. There are twenty spacious guestrooms to choose from, each of which boasts a spacious bathroom and pretty garden views. Head chef Kevin Tickle has created an extensive and imaginative menu for guests to work their way through that highlights the abundance of fresh produce that can be found in this part of the world. Some of the taste sensations that are just waiting to be enjoyed here include venison pastrami with ewe’s milk cheese, lemon sole with leeks in horseradish and mugwort ice cream.

The Berkley Hotel, located in Wilton Place, is a five-star hotel that boasts stylish interior designs that are guaranteed to impress any patrons that walk through the doors. Those who visit the hotel can enjoy a drink in the elegant Blue Bar, pamper themselves in the luxurious spa, swim in the spacious indoor pool or enjoy a bite to eat at one of the hotel’s two restaurants. The Collins Room, designed by Robert Angell, offers one of the best fine dining experiences in London while the Marcus restaurant provides Michelin-starred cuisine that will suit even the most sophisticated palate. The hotel’s spacious, elegantly designed and well-furnished bedrooms are divided into Deluxe and Superior categories.

The five-star Bulgari Hotel, built by the Sir Robert McAlpine construction company between 2010 and 2012, had the distinction of being London’s most expensive hotel when it was first opened and remains one of the most prestigious places to stay in the capital. The hotel contains 85 rooms and suites as well as a ballroom, cigar shop, cinema, fitness centre and gymnasium while the Rivea restaurant offers some of the best French and Italian cuisine to the hotel’s patrons. The bedrooms are separated into Superior, Deluxe and Executive rooms while the apartments are divided into Junior, Studio, Deluxe, Knightsbridge and Bulgari suites.

The Franklin, situated in the Egerton Gardens, was established in 1992 when four elegant townhouses were combined to create a luxury hotel. This five-star hotel contains 35 rooms and suites, a fashionable bar that serves the finest wines and spirits as well as an excellent restaurant with Michelin-star status. Those who wish to visit the Franklin on a business trip will be pleased to know that the hotel contains it’s own meeting room, ideal for conferences and other events, that will enable business people to do conduct their affairs among stylish and comfortable surroundings.

The antidote to London’s largeness, the bijou Boundary has but 17 rooms, ensuring a boutique ambience in the surroundings of a former Victorian warehouse. Each has been individually designed in the spirit of Shoreditch’s commitment to creativity, boasting funky, edgy and arty decor that’s entirely unique and very imaginative. And you’d expect nothing less when you discover that this hotel is owned by Sir Terence Conran, himself a design legend. At the top is its Rooftop Bar & Grill, within a glass extension that enables far-reaching views as you dine, whatever the weather.

This was the first ever Hoxton hotel to be launched, landing in Shoreditch in 2006, at a point when the district was beginning to emerge as one of the hippest haunts in the capital. Beyond the brick and glass exterior is the kind of decor that typifies modern East London; a blend of urban, industrial and retro chic. There are 210 bedrooms with design features like parquet floors, accent headboards, distressed-effect rugs, leather Chesterfield wingback armchairs and backlit mirrors. Guests can hang out in the rooftop restaurant and bar, on a lounging sofa by the fire in the lobby, or at the Hoxton Grill.