London (Fodor's 2012) - Fodor's [124]
Malmaison: With lavish, elegant small hotels around the country, this upscale chain offers luxurious designer style, good restaurants, and trendy bars. | www.malmaison.com.
Millennium: Similar in style to Premier Inns, Millennium (and its other brand, Copthorne) hotels are targeted at both business and leisure travelers. They offer well-designed rooms with plenty of gadgets and have frequent sales. | www.millenniumhotels.co.uk.
myhotel: A small chain of pricey boutique hotels, with a designer decor, trendy bars, and a modern approach, myhotels offer reliable comfort and service, if you don’t mind the price tag. | www.myhotels.com.
Premier Inns: This widespread chain features medium-size, moderately priced hotels. They’re known for their attractive if bland look, and for frequent sales, which keep prices cheap. | www.premierinn.com.
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Westminster | Victoria | St. James’s | Mayfair | Marylebone | Soho | Covent Garden | Holborn | Bloomsbury and Legal London | The City | The East End | The South Bank | Kensington | Chelsea | Knightsbridge | Notting Hill | Bayswater | Hampstead | Islington | Camden Town | The Thames Upstream
WESTMINSTER
Mint Hotel Westminster.
£££–££££ | In a rather stark, steel-and-glass building steps from the Tate Britain, this member of a small U.K. chain has some rooms with spectacular views of Big Ben and the London Eye; extras like floor-to-ceiling windows and flat-screen TVs complement the contemporary, monochrome guest rooms. A perk while staying here: Skype-enabled phones allow for free calls. Cots, baby baths, Nickelodeon, special menus, and baby food are all on tap for kids. The restaurant and bar serve Modern British cooking. Pros: amazing views; lots of high-tech toys, including iMac computers. Cons: with more than 400 rooms, you’re just a number. TripAdvisor: “standard of food was really good,” “modern and clean hotel,” “sound proofing very good.” | 30 John Islip St., Westminster | SW1P 4DD | 020/7630–1000 | www.minthotel.com | 444 rooms, 16 suites | In-room: a/c, safe, DVD, Wi-Fi. In-hotel: restaurant, room service, bar, gym, laundry service, parking (paid) | AE, MC, V | Pimlico
Vandon House Hotel.
£–££ | Popular with students, backpackers, and families on a budget, this simply decorated hotel is close to Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace; the accommodations on offer are the very definition of cheap and cheerful. Singles and some twin rooms share bathrooms, but the rest have bathrooms with a shower only. Family rooms include a double bed and camp-style bunk bed, which could result in scuffles over who sleeps where. There’s also a one-bedroom apartment available for £100–£150 per night. Nothing here is fancy, but it’s a friendly little place and very well located. Pros: handy location; comfortable beds. Cons: simple decor; few extras; some rooms share bathrooms. TripAdvisor: “cozy place,” “great value and location,” “bring your ear plugs.” | 1 Vandon St., Westminster | SW1H 0AH | 020/7799–6780 | www.vandonhouse.com | 32 rooms | In-room: no a/c, Wi-Fi. In-hotel: bar, laundry service | MC, V | Breakfast | St. James’s Park
VICTORIA
41.
£££££ | This luxurious abode’s designer credentials are everywhere, from the unusual tiled floors to the extraordinary furnishings drawn from every corner of the globe. Even the entrance is unique: You walk into a guests-only elevator and are swept up to the fifth-floor lobby. Rooms, some of them split-level, are gorgeously furnished with a plethora of high-tech. You can relax on the butter-soft leather sofa in front of the fireplace, recline on the exquisite bed linens and feather duvets, or luxuriate in the marble bath. A “whatever, whenever” button on the telephone connects you with the helpful, amiable staff who provide exactly that. Perhaps the best example of the laid-back attitude is breakfast being served until a magnificently lazy 1 pm on Sunday. Pros: unique place opposite Buckingham Palace; great service. Cons: