The launch venture of Hector Ross's Signet Collection, this Georgian inn with riverside terraces, across the road from Hampton Court, has beautiful, luxurious bedrooms and suites mixing contemporary opulence and classic style, excellent brasserie fare and a tasting menu in the river-view restaurant.

Winston Churchill, Charlie Chaplin and Elizabeth Taylor were among notable guests entertained by press baron Lord Beaverbrook at this glamorous Victorian mansion overlooking Italianate gardens, now an opulent spa hotel and treasure trove of memorabilia, with a tempting range of dining options.

A bus ride from Greater London, in the Surrey hills, this whitewashed former coaching inn is a good mix of friendly local and gastropub with rooms, a good base for walking, cycling and picnics on Box Hill.

You can paddleboard on the river, take a yoga class, stroll to see the deer in Richmond Park, and feel a world away from central London at this smart, multifaceted Thames-side hotel.

In a row of stucco-fronted Edwardian townhouses, this small hotel, a stroll from Hyde Park and the South Kensington museums, has 24 smart, individually styled, air-conditioned bedrooms with a coffee machine and shower, a lounge, bar and secluded terrace.

A home away from home in the heart of Chelsea is the aim of these red-brick Victorian townhouses, which have been converted into a luxurious hotel of dazzling individuality.

On the corner of a leafy Pimlico street, this handsome Georgian stuccoed gastropub is a popular neighbourhood drop-in, with four airy bedrooms, an open-plan ground-floor bar serving wood-fired pizzas, an atmospheric basement cocktail bar and first-floor restaurant.

Hip, fun, quirky, this London outpost of a small, art-focused chain of hotels is a popular neighbourhood drop-in with a restaurant, basement cocktail bar, and highly individual bedrooms set over three upper floors, on a leafy residential street.

Beyond the Doric portico of a white stucco neo-classical mansion, this boutique hotel captures the eclectic charms of glamorous and bohemian Notting Hill.

A personable, affordable hotel in swanky Belgravia, the Lime Tree has smart boutique bedrooms, 24-hour reception, an oasis 'secret' garden, barista coffees, breakfast, brunch and lunches on offer in the Buttery, and some great restaurants close at hand.