Launched by a group of friends, and rejoicing in an ambience inspired by vibrant, bohemian Soho, this family-friendly hotel has exuberant decor, generously equipped bedrooms, a street café, a rooftop bar with wraparound terrace, a classy Italian restaurant and a spirit of sheer joie de vivre.

The epitome of Edwardian grand-hotel luxury, with its liveried doormen, dazzling interiors, glamorous bedrooms, Michelin-starred cooking in the fabulously redesigned dining room, the Goring is, for all its cachet, welcoming and unaffected, with an acre of garden at the rear.

Art Deco interiors, Jazz Age glamour, a cocktail bar with outdoor terrace, the New York-style Colony Grill and a small spa combine to make this hotel at the heart of Mayfair one of London's most desirable.

A handsome former diplomats' club in a quiet corner of Mayfair is today a high-end hotel, with plush bar, sleek bedrooms, spa treatments, concierge service, tapas and snacks in the bar and lounge as well as modern interpretations of 19th-century dishes created by Queen Victoria's head chef in the restaurant.

Spread across six Georgian townhouses in the shadow of the south tower of One Crown Place, where hip Shoreditch meets the City, this hotel has clubby, inviting interiors with witty modern artworks, richly atmospheric bedrooms, splendid bathrooms, sophisticated Peruvian cuisine, and cocktails in the bar and lounges.