The Most Exciting Hotels in London Right Now

28.08.2024 - 22:00 / nytimes.com / Winston Churchill / Ian Fleming

London is in its global hotel brand era: In the last year, it’s added a Raffles, a Peninsula and a second Mandarin Oriental; a Waldorf Astoria, a St. Regis and a Six Senses are on their way. This new guard is taking over historical icons and throwing up gleaming towers, and it’s upping the ante on amenities, too. A posh afternoon tea is no longer enough, it seems; now, five-stars come with signature scents, subterranean spas, museum-worthy art and long-stay residences. Rooftop bars, a rarity here a decade ago, are now seemingly obligatory (Bar 33 at the Emory wins for views, with everything from Big Ben to Battersea Power Station in its sights). But there’s still room for the occasional independent hotel, like the Broadwick, a maximalist love letter to the owner Noel Hayden’s hotelier parents and the creative Soho of the ’90s in which he came of age. “It’s a bit of a sensory overload,” Hayden says. Naturally, there’s a rooftop bar there, too.

Paddington, an area short on upscale hotels, is a smart choice for French brand Lignée Hotels’ first property outside France. A decades-long regeneration, the new Elizabeth Line, linking Paddington to Heathrow and East London, and nearby attractions like Kensington Gardens and Little Venice make it a good base for exploring the capital. Grand Hotel Bellevue, whose sister hotels include the soignée La Maison Favart and Le Narcisse Blanc Hotel & Spa in Paris, occupies a five-story Victorian townhouse on elegant Norfolk Square. The Paris-based, Milanese architect Fabrizio Casiraghi has combined a bold, earthy color palette with bespoke furniture and antiques for the interiors, and collaborated with the American fashion designer Emily Adams Bode Aujla to design the hotel’s reception and Pondicherry Bar. A tribute to the duo’s love of India, the bar has bold yellow walls hung with tapestries featuring elephants and tigers; its cocktail list includes Masala Chai Iced Tea, with spiced rum and crème de pêche. The smallest, single rooms are designed to feel like boat cabins, with dark wood walls and brass light fixtures, while the 375-square-foot Grand Norfolk Suite has a free-standing tub, high ceilings and views of Norfolk Square. Bathrooms are stocked with products by perfumer-to-the-royals, Floris, and there’s a fitness studio with Nohrd equipment.

The 120-room Raffles London, which opened in fall 2023, is a spectacular revival of the Old War Offices, a turreted, Edwardian Baroque icon in the middle of the city’s royal and political landmarks. The 760,000-square-foot stone-clad building served as the offices for leading politicians, including Winston Churchill, and was the birthplace for the British intelligence services MI5 and MI6 — it inspired Ian Fleming’s James