In days past the Connaught was as old-school as can be, a bastion of country-house pomp in the heart of Mayfair. Today, after extensive renovations and a redesign by Guy Oliver, it’s less the archetypal country manor and more the archetypal London luxury hotel, which sounds like a dismissal but isn’t actually; these interiors won’t shock you with their originality, but they project just the right atmosphere of stately seriousness.

The Savoy is arguably the original luxury hotel, or at very least the original London luxury hotel, a hotel whose influence is positively Beatlesque, if you’ll forgive the comparison — Beatlesque in the sense that everything that’s happened in high-end hotels since the 1890s is arguably just a variation on a theme introduced by César Ritz, the Savoy’s original general manager, who counts electric lights and en-suite bathrooms among his hospitality innovations. (Yes, that Ritz.)

Claridge’s is by any lights one of the best hotels in London, and it’s almost certainly the poshest. Even today, this Mayfair landmark — where the crowned heads of Europe came to wait out the Second World War — remains splendidly and timelessly Art Deco. Stroll past the black awning into an entry foyer with Lalique vases, gilded columns, a sweeping staircase ornamented with brass banister that is polished daily.

The OWO is the Old War Office, an Edwardian landmark in Whitehall, across the road from the mid-century Ministry of Defence building that gradually replaced it. They don’t make government offices like this anymore, to say the least; the OWO’s opulence is perfectly suited to a traditional luxury brand like Raffles, and the hotel’s interiors are the work of the French architect Thierry Despont, perhaps the last architect to specialize in this sort of monument.

Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, like any Mandarin, sets the bar rather high: it’s astonishingly luxurious, impeccably staffed, and not at all hard on the eyes. Budget travelers steer clear, as conspicuous consumption is the order of the day — not only does Mandarin Oriental service come at a price, but the location is so near Knightsbridge’s notorious shopping that you’ll likely take home one more suitcase than you arrived with.

More than fifty years on, the first Four Seasons hotel in Europe remains one of London’s top luxury hotels. Like many Mayfair fifty-somethings, it’s taken good care of itself; renovations have been tasteful and age-appropriate, and the result is nothing if not dignified. Lavish public spaces and luxe accommodations are to be expected — many rooms feature balconies with views of the city or Hyde Park.

London has no shortage of luxury hotels, but within view of Wellington Arch in Belgravia is a modern addition that manages to elevate the whole scene. The Peninsula London was long in the making, and the result is one of the city’s most lavish lodgings. From the outside it’s unmistakably contemporary, but certain interior spaces — the lobby in particular — feel like century-old classics, and the rooms, as modern as they are, are inspired by the grand country-house tradition.

When the first Bvlgari Hotel opened in Milan, the mix of top-shelf luxury and faultless high-gloss style seemed so perfectly Italian. Today, however, with London looking more cosmopolitan than ever, the brand looks equally at home in Knightsbridge. Here in the heart of Victorian London is the five-star to end all five-stars, another minimalist masterpiece by the Italian designer Antonio Citterio: Bvlgari Hotel London.

One of London’s boldest luxury hotels takes its inspiration from across the Atlantic — the Beaumont Hotel is meant to evoke the glamour and the rush of a fictional Roaring Twenties New York member’s club. It’s in Mayfair, between Grosvenor Square and Selfridges, and despite its American accent, it’s about as Mayfair as a 21st-century hotel can get, right down to the brash, slightly puzzling piece of quasi-public art that adorns its Twenties Art Deco facade.

Grosvenor Square may seem like an unlikely location for a members’ club and boutique hotel aimed at the young and hip — Mayfair is ultra-luxe territory, inhabited largely by ambassadors and hedge funds. But the element of surprise is essential to any great hotel, and the Twenty Two is possessed of a vibrant playfulness that’s ordinarily found much further east.

On a narrow side street in the bustling and chic Covent Garden district of London’s West End, this splendidly theatrical small hotel’s exclusive atmosphere and central location make it the perfect London pied-à-terre for visiting actors, professional shoppers, and savvy yet indulgent travelers. The opera house and the theatre district are close by, as are the West End’s best shops and boutiques — and yet the hotel itself is stunning enough you may have trouble dragging yourself outside.

Haymarket Hotel is among the younger hotels in the Firmdale group — or shall we call it a family? We’re disposed to think of Number Sixteen, the Knightsbridge, Soho Hotel and all the rest of the group's other London hotels as instant classics: luxury-hotel values on a boutique-hotel scale, with a unique design personality courtesy of Kit Kemp. What’s not to love?

Alongside a fairly substantial hotel, there’s also retail space, a restaurant and lounge, a rooftop garden, a 190-seat cinema, and a little four-lane bowling alley in the basement, all along a charming pedestrian thoroughfare complete with a bronze sculpture and a fair bit of greenery. There’s plenty of activity, naturally, but the atmosphere feels a world apart from Piccadilly Circus, scarcely a hundred yards away.

For well over a century Café Royal was a bar and restaurant frequented by the likes of Oscar Wilde — if there’s such a thing as “the likes of” Wilde — as well as many of the theatre world’s other bright lights, a century’s worth of statesmen and royals, and several generations of fairly eminent journalists. Today, it’s one of the city’s most luxurious hotels, the crown jewel of an ambitious multi-use development.

One of London’s original luxury hotels, the Langham opened in 1865, and was, at the time, the most opulent hotel in Europe. By the end of the Second World War it had closed, and was owned for a time by the BBC — but now that it’s back under the banner of the (now Hong Kong–based) Langham Hospitality Group, it’s been restored to its former glory, and is again a major player on the London luxury-hotel scene.

The Cadogan is something of a legend, having been a haunt of Oscar Wilde and a fixture on the London luxury-hotel scene for as long as there’s been such a thing. After a lengthy absence and a thorough renovation, it’s back, this time as the Belmond Cadogan Hotel, and by the look of it, the last time it looked so fresh might have been the day it opened in 1887.

With its opulent Regency interiors, butler service and world-class spa, The Lanesborough delivers old-school grandeur but with a modern polish. Overlooking Hyde Park, it’s a destination in itself for luxury lovers. Indeed, you don't even need to leave the building thanks to the ornately decorated Lanesborough Grill.

The hotel business has of late become so fashion-oriented that it’s hard sometimes to remember there was life before the boutique hotel. But as the upstarts slowly move upscale, increasingly incorporating elements of old-world luxury alongside their trademark visual flash, one is reminded of the hotels that have always done luxury well; that is to say, the original grand hotels themselves.

One can’t help but feel this classic Edwardian monument, on High Holborn in the part of London between the City and the West End that we’re apparently meant to start calling Midtown, was somewhat wasted in its former life as an insurance company headquarters. But we’re willing to let bygones be bygones. What’s important now is that it’s open to the paying public, in the form of the sensibly named, quietly confident Rosewood London.

The Berkeley does not boast the longest list of royal guests, the most storied history, or the richest collection of antiques and old master paintings. Nor does it have nightingales or a location in Berkeley Square. What it does have is extreme comfort. It is not considered, by any means, to be the grandest or the most stylish hotel, but for many people, it’s the best. Doormen and concierges call you by name and it’s on the doorstep of both Hyde Park and Harvey Nichols.

London is a lot of things to a lot of people, and it’s got a diversity of hotels to match. Mayfair in particular is, among other things, one of the hedge-fund capitals of the world. Put frankly, there’s quite a lot of money discreetly hidden discreetly away behind this neighborhood’s doors. And in 45 Park Lane the neighborhood’s got a hotel to match, a hotel that, however fantastically luxe, manages to maintain an air of self-composed, stylish understatement.

Boutique hotels come and go, but a few of London’s top hotels have been in it for the long haul. At the end of the last century Brown’s, a fixture since 1837, was starting to show its age. But after a big-ticket renovation (the top-to-bottom Olga Polizzi treatment) it’s back in business, as grand, refined and quintessentially English as it must have been back in its 19th-century prime.

A Whitehall address necessarily carries with it a certain cachet, and on that score the Corinthia Hotel London doesn’t disappoint. Built in the 19th century as the Hôtel Métropole, this building later housed the Ministry of Defense. Now it’s back to its original purpose as an impossibly glamorous luxury hotel, complete with seven extravagant penthouse suites, a massive Baccarat chandelier in the lobby, and a spa that expands over four floors.

The second Mandarin Oriental hotel in London stands on Mayfair’s Hanover Square, in a building that’s unmistakably modern yet, with its façade’s strips of red brick, pays architectural tribute to its setting. As expected it’s both stylish and ultra-luxe, its aesthetics showing a distinct East Asian influence and its comforts elevated to match one of London’s wealthiest quarters.

The Ritz needs no introduction. A symbol of timeless elegance, it pairs Belle Époque glamour with impeccable service and landmark status. From afternoon tea in the Palm Court to evenings in its Two-MICHELIN-Starred dining room, every detail is pure indulgence.

It’s posh, but not aggressively exclusive; stylish, but not overcooked; and while it’s unapologetically high-end it’s not quite stratospheric. Simply put, you don’t have to own property in Mayfair to stay here. It’s stitched together from thirteen connected Georgian townhouses, which means it comes by its classic atmosphere honestly. And while the décor is definitely contemporary, it’s got the feeling of an evolution rather than a revolution — the interiors do no disservice to the architecture.

The London hotel scene these days is all flash interiors and decadent comforts, a sort of arms race of bold design and lavish luxuries. No hotel can compete in this market without designer-dressed staff, the obligatory Frette linens and whimsically outsize furniture, and a hotel without a happening bar scene is like a day without sunshine (though the inappropriateness of the metaphor with regards to the English climate is duly noted).

Many of the world’s most stylish hotels are heavy on the public spaces, pouring money into lounges, libraries, drawing rooms, even private cinemas, while relegating the paying guests to cramped, uninspired rooms. How this works as a business proposition is quite beyond our understanding, but in this case it’s irrelevant — London’s Halkin hotel turns this stereotype inside out.

If you’re the literary type, you might be won over by the prospect of a hotel inspired by Oscar Wilde — and if interior design is your medium, you may be more thrilled at the prospect of Jacques Garcia’s first London hotel. L’oscar London certainly begins with promising material, in a landmark Baroque-style Baptist church just yards from Holborn station. But it’s what they’ve done with the place that really impresses; this is a vision of London that Wilde surely would have preferred.

Like many city-center districts with a history of attracting the arts and creative industries, Soho was once a bit rough around the edges. But a hotel like Broadwick Soho leaves the neighborhood’s seedy side long in the past. This 57-room hotel is pure modern luxury, but carefully tailored to its location; designer Martin Brudnizki was inspired by the Twenties opulence that’s an essential part of London’s character, as well as the streak of eccentricity.

Underpromise and overdeliver: Beaverbrook Town House is not one but two restored Georgian townhouses, right on Sloane Street, across from Cadogan Place Gardens, where Chelsea meets Knightsbridge. It wears one of its inspirations on its sleeve: it’s the city sibling of a Surrey country-house hotel that was once the home of newspaper baron, government minister, and society bigwig Lord Beaverbrook.

Set in a white stucco-fronted Victorian townhouse, The Adria offers a discreet and elegant base close to some of London’s top museums. A contemporary classic, its serene, stylish interiors and boutique charm are matched by personalised service.

Prepare for a slight case of culture shock — the old Cox’s and King’s bank on the corner of Waterloo Place and Pall Mall, just around the corner from the Piccadilly Circus tube station, is now the place to go in London for a little taste of Paris. Today owned by the French Sofitel chain, it’s had a makeover courtesy of designer Pierre-Yves Rochon, and now sports a fine French brasserie.

Number Sixteen is either the coziest boutique hotel in London, or the most luxurious bed and breakfast — we’re still not sure. The location, down a sleepy side street in South Kensington, is fairly well hidden; just a row of nineteenth-century Victorian townhouses without so much as a sign to show the way. As a member of Firmdale’s Townhouse Collection, it’s a more low-key experience than the bigger, Ham Yard or Soho Hotel — notable for its intimate scale and its quiet charm.

The Knightsbridge Hotel is the perfect modestly priced entrée into one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the world. In fact the Knightsbridge is the ideal shopper’s hotel, a sort of junior version of its sisters, Covent Garden and Charlotte Street, with a correspondingly lower nightly rate, leaving plenty of room on the credit cards for expeditions to Harrods and Harvey Nichols, as well as the shops of Sloane Street and Brompton Cross.

London’s Soho Hotel is impossibly glamorous, a luxury boutique that is at once classic and original — classic in the now-familiar London sense of overstated and outsized comfort, robust and enveloping furnishing and fixtures (as compared to the papier-mâché set construction in lesser boutiques) and original in its avoidance of worn-out tropes like featureless white rooms, cheap ‘Zen’ minimalism and off-the-rack hotel-standard furniture.

By now the Firmdale hotels, thanks in no small part to Kit Kemp’s inimitably colorful interiors, need little in the way of introduction. They’ve been successful enough that it’s easy to overlook what a departure they were for a London hotel scene that was suffering from an excess of minimalist-inspired seriousness. Charlotte Street was one of the first, and it brought — and continues to bring — a delightful dose of joie de vivre to London’s high-end hospitality world.

The old Bow Street Magistrates’ Court has seen some history, including Oscar Wilde’s prosecution; only fitting, then, that the NoMad London, set in this venerable Covent Garden landmark, should pay tribute with vibrant, romantic, bohemian interiors by the design duo Roman and Williams.

Redchurch Townhouse benefits from a very fine location, right around the corner from sister club Shoreditch House, which is across the road from Shoreditch High Street station. Its membership, naturally, draws from the local creative industries, which means that as an overnight guest — and temporary club member — you’ll rub elbows with local artists, designers, and entrepreneurs.

You don’t have to be a skyscraper aficionado or an architecture junkie to have heard of the Shard; Renzo Piano’s enormous glass edifice is probably the most significant addition to London’s skyline since the Tower of London was erected in 1078, and it’s by a considerable distance the tallest building in town. But the Shard is more than an ostentatious office tower. At the top are some truly rarefied luxury residences, with views that range all the way to the North Sea.

With their living green walls and their impeccable eco credentials, the 1 Hotels are synonymous with sustainability. But the 1 Hotel Mayfair, right around the corner from Green Park and the Ritz, is a reminder that this is also very much a luxury brand. It’s a thorough renovation of a pair of existing buildings — sustainability in action — but the impression it gives is that of a purpose-built refuge.

While London’s hotels, as a whole, have been scaling dizzying heights of luxury, Artist Residence London is a throwback to the days when creative people could live well in West London without substantial family wealth. The setting, on a side street in Pimlico, places it close to Sloane Square, Buckingham Palace, and Tate Britain — and even closer to any number of art galleries, both large and small.

Like many luxury hotels housed in historic landmarks, the Four Seasons Hotel London at Tower Bridge exudes old-world grandeur. This stately Beaux-Arts building was once the home of the Port of London Authority, and during its 1920s heyday, more than a thousand people passed through its halls each day to pay port dues on goods arriving from China and the East Indies. Elements of the original structure remain, like towering Corinthian columns, decorative woodwork, and heavy crystal chandeliers.

A relative newcomer on the London hotel scene, but one boasting plenty of confidence, At Sloane blends bold patterns and historic charm with Parisian flair. With 30 rooms and a focus on craftsmanship and detail, it’s a fresh take on London luxury.

The Emory is, perhaps surprisingly, the first all-suite hotel in London; between that and the fact that it counts Claridge’s, the Connaught, and the Berkeley as its siblings, you can expect a thoroughly high-end experience. The building, by Richard Rodgers, is a modern marvel, and the interiors are the work of a dream team of hospitality designers.