The delightful St. John Hotel, an intimate 15-room boutique hotel located off Leicester Square, opened only this month in London. It is the latest project of famous chef Fergus Henderson and his business partner, Trevor Gulliver.  The hotel has a 70-seat restaurant at the street level and a bar one flight up.

The rooms are designed to provide “everything the traveler needs and nothing that they do not”. Charming open white tiled bathrooms and wood panelled walls create a warm and cozy ambiance.  The top floor suite is its own retreat; it can be expanded to take in the whole floor with three bedrooms and a large living space.

Breakfast is served from 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Residents and non-residents are welcome to sample the menu which has been carefully crafted. Be sure to try the ‘Breakfast Bun’ that can only be found there and has been in creation for quite some time.  The lunch, afternoon snack, and supper menus are taken equally as seriously and are sure to whet your appetite.  Room service makes it a point to announce that they don’t serve club sandwiches and promotes that ‘a real chef offering a real service is in the kitchen’.

If you find yourself a little too tired to go home after a big dinner and a bit too much to drink, the hotel offers a Post-Supper room. These rooms are smaller guest rooms that remove the need to call for a taxi to take you home. The bar and restaurant are open till 2 a.m.

Room rates start from £200.

St. John Hotel
1 Leicester Street
London WC2H 7BL
United Kingdom
+44 203 301 8069
Email the hotel to inquire about a booking.

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Recommended reading: review of the St. John Hotel’s restaurant on the Guardian

If you want to stay in a cozy, intimate boutique hotel in London, check out the Grazing Goat, a public house and hotel, located within Portman Village on New Quebec Street, just off Portman Square, minutes away from Oxford Street and Marble Arch. The Grazing Goat has eight charming country house styled hotel rooms with oak floors, marble en-suites, and free Wi-Fi. The standard rooms (of which there are six) cost £195 per night (including tax) and the suites (of which there are two) cost £225 per night (including tax).

The Grazing Goat’s pub features open fireplaces, oak floors and solid oak bars. Floor to ceiling glass doors open onto New Quebec Street providing al fresco dining for those warm days in London. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner on the ground floor and first floor dining rooms. The food is classic British cuisine using fresh ingredients with seasonal menus based on traditional and modern recipes. They also offer beers and ales, together with a large selection of wines and champagne.

The location is ideal for those who want to be in the center of London, close to the shopping delights of Selfridges on Oxford Street and the designer boutiques of Bond Street. It is also walking distance to Hyde Park. There are precious few boutique hotels in this area that offer the kind of cozy, warm ambiance of the Grazing Goat. However, since they have only 8 rooms, it’s best to book well in advance.

The Grazing Goat
6 New Quebec Street
London W1H 7RQ
United Kingdom
+44 20 7724 7243 ‎
Email the hotel to inquire about a booking.

After the most ambitious hotel restoration in British history, The Savoy is now taking reservations. An icon of British hospitality since 1889, the hotel is once again establishing itself as the leader in luxury hotels after a £100 million restoration. With 268 guestrooms and suites, the hotel allows its guests to experience the splendour of a bygone age but with all of the modern conveniences of the 21st century and stunning views of London and the River Thames.  There are 9 ‘personality suites’  that are inspired each by The Savoy’s most prestigious high profile guests while their 2-bedroom Royal Suite is indeed fit for a king.

The guestrooms honor the hotel’s two main aesthetics, English Edwardian and Art Deco. Designer Pierre Yves Rochon created the ambience with the finest materials from Murano glass chandeliers and silk wall coverings to Italian linens and marble floors.  The bathrooms are spacious and have signature toiletries by Miller Harris. Each room is individually designed and unique with many original features such as fireplaces and views of the city. Specialty rooms such as a Savoy Family Suite and Junior Suite are also available if you want more space and luxury.

The restaurants and bars that helped give The Savoy its renowned fame have also been renovated. The Thames Foyer is once again up and running and the heart of the hotel with its airy yet intimate place for informal dining.  You can also indulge afternoon tea at Savoy Tea or modern French cuisine at River Restaurant.  All meals are created using fresh and nutritionally balanced ingredients and they cater to people who want raw and vegan cuisine, as well as gluten-free meals.

If you are travelling on business, there is a Business Centre which is available 24 hours a day.  For health and fitness, the Fitness Gallery is also beautifully designed and has a gym as well as a spa and a rooftop swimming pool.  For more important occasions, The Savoy has always been one of London’s grandest and most romantic locations for a wedding.  It is ideal for both small, intimate ceremonies and large scale receptions.  There are 3 Banqueting Rooms and 6 smaller Private Rooms that are also equipped to cater for kosher celebrations. Room rates from 340 GBP.

If you are going to London via the Eurostar and want to stay in a hotel at the doorstep of the St Pancras Station, why not stay at the palatial St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, a spectacular newly renovated “high Victorian Gothic” building that used to house the Midland Grand Hotel back in the glory days of rail travel? The luxury hotel and apartment complex, which opens in March 2011, has 245 bedrooms, 38 Victorian suites and a Presidential Suite (the former Venetian Ballroom), plus the Gilbert Scott restaurant to be run by one of Britain’s most celebrated chefs, Marcus Wareing. Rooms start at £250 per night. Read a full review at The Guardian:

It is both magnificent and a little demented. With its churchy aura, it feels uncomfortable with its own hedonism. Although its imagery is of nature and springtime, it feels a touch clammy and stifling. While admiring it, you can see why people in the early 20th century reacted against this kind of thing, in favour of simpler, fresher, less pretentious spaces.

Make sure you explore nearby Camden Town, a quirky neighborhood known for its street markets and boutiques.

St Pancras Renaissance Hotel
Euston Road
London NW1 2AR
United Kingdom

There’s free Wi-Fi (and wired broadband). The studios have private patios with city views. They also offer complimentary access to a local gym if you want to work out. Weekday prices start at £212; weekend prices start at £180. If you book at least 28 days in advance, you get a 20 percent discount.

The hotel also has a restaurant on the premises, the Bistrot Bruno Loubet. Chef Bruno Loubet brings his distinctive style of modern bistrot food to The Zetter. He is known for his creativity and attention to detail. Bruno uses classical techniques to produce an exciting combination of hearty regional food, contemporary dishes and reinterpreted classics. A delicate use of spice, and Asian and North African ingredients help create his unique take on modern bistrot food.

The Zetter

St John’s Square

86-88 Clerkenwell Road

London EC1M 5RJ

United Kingdom

+44 (0)20 7324 4444

Email the hotel to inquire about a booking.

Here’s another interesting place to stay in London: the Boundary, which is located in a converted Victorian warehouse in Shoreditch (close to Brick Lane and Spitalfields), a seven-minute walk from the Liverpool Street Station.

Boundary is a project of Terence Conran (founder of Habitat). It includes 12 guest bedrooms and 5 suites, a rooftop bar and restaurant with 360-degree views of Canary Wharf and the Barbican, a restaurant in the basement called the Boundary Restaurant which serves French classics, and a bakery and food store on the ground floor.

Each guest bedroom and suite is named after a legendary designer (Le Corbusier, Andree Putman, Mies van der Rohe), whose style inspired the decor of the room. The most luxurious suite was designed by Sir David Tang (of Shanghai Tang). Boundary is expensive. They don’t publish the room rates online. You have to look for them in an online bookings site. I found prices on Expedia.com ranging between $325 and $685, the latter being the price for the Tang Suite. Nevertheless, it is a unique place to stay, a cut above the usual luxury chain hotel.

Boundary Restaurant, Rooms and Rooftop
2-4 Boundary Street
Shoreditch
London E2 7JE
United Kingdom
+44 20 7729 1051
www.theboundary.co.uk

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If you are going to London, try to get a room in 40 Winks, a restored Queen Anne townhouse built in 1717 in East London. It is the home of interior designer David Carter. Popular among artists, photographers and fashion people, it is often used in photo shoots so you need to book in advance.

40 Winks has two guest rooms and the prices are very reasonable (£65 for Room 1 which has a single bed and £95 for Room 2 which is suitable for two persons). He charges a £5 supplement if you are only staying for one night.

The guesthouse is located Stepney Green (East London), a four-minute walk from the Stepney Green underground station (the District and Hammersmith and City lines go through this station).

40 Winks
109 Mile End Road
Stepney Green
London E1 4UJ
United Kingdom
+44 20 7790 0259
www.40winks.org

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It’s time to put London on the list of destinations again. The city is no longer as expensive as it used to be as a result of recent declines in value of the British pound against other currencies. Hotels and restaurants are even lowering prices, at least for now. London has a lot of fabulous boutique hotels, which we have listed already, but now let me add one more: Rough Luxe. According to their website, it’s a little bit of luxury in a rough part of London (across the King’s Cross train station, which I would hardly call “rough”). The hotel is in a Grade II listed building which has been renovated by designer Rabih Hage. Some rooms have shared bathrooms. They serve afternoon tea. Prices start at £155, which is reasonable for London.

• Vibe: faded luxury with modern touches, eclectic mix of art and antiques, charming and quirky.
• Pros: reasonably priced for London and centrally located (across King’s Cross station and 1 minute walk from St. Pancras station).
• Cons: the area is very busy so if you want peace and quiet, this isn’t for you.

Rough Luxe Hotel
1 Birkenhead Street
London, WC1H 8BA
United Kingdom
+44 (0)20 7837 5338
www.roughluxe.co.uk

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See all our London favorites and check them out on a Google map.

It’s time to go to London again. The value of British pound has declined in the past month, reaching near parity with the euro. It has gone down against the dollar to as low as $1.49. Since I’ve already posted my favorite boutique hotels in London, here’s a list of my favorite restaurants. Most of them are Indian restaurants with a couple of fancier places like Corrigan’s in Mayfair and L’Anima, and one Sichuan place called Bar Shu.

Bar Shu
28 Frith Street
Soho
W1D 5LF
London, United Kingdom
+44 20 7287 8822
www.bar-shu.co.uk
Sichuan food

Corrigan’s Mayfair
28 Upper Grosvenor Street
London W1
United Kingdom
+44 2 7499 9943
www.corrigansmayfair.com
Specialty: game; elegant dining room

L’Anima
1 Snowden Street
London EC2A 2DQ
United Kingdom
+44 20 7422 7000
www.lanima.co.uk
Italian cuisine; elegant, tranquil interiors, white furniture

Chowki
2-3 Denman Street
London W1D 7HA
United Kingdom
Indian

Lahore Kebab House
2-4 Umberston St
London E1 1PY
United Kingdom
Indian

Kerala
15 Great Castle St
London W1W 8LT
United Kingdom
Indian

Kastoori Restaurant
188 Upper Tooting Rd
London SW17 7EJ
United Kingdom
Indian

Hot Stuff
19 Wilcox Rd
London SW8 2XA
United Kingdom
Indian

Cafe Spice Namaste
16 Prescot Street
London E1 8AZ
United Kingdom
+44 20 7488 9242
www.cafespice.co.uk
Innovative Indian cuisine

Quilon
41 Buckingham Gate
London SW1
United Kingdom
+44 20 7821 1899
www.thequilonrestaurant.com
South Indian cuisine

Go to a map of the best boutique hotels and restaurants in London.

It’s that time of the year when people are making travel plans for the summer. London is one of my favorite cities, but it’s not easy finding a good place to stay that’s good value at the same time. I’ve listed my favorite hotels in different areas of the city for different budgets. Personally I like staying in Notting Hill or Covent Garden because there’s so much to do and the shopping is fabulous. I will post a list of my favorite restaurants and cafes in a few days.

Notting Hill area:

The Gate Hotel
6 Portobello Road
London W11 3DG
United Kingdom
+44 20 72210707
www.gatehotel.co.uk

The Portobello Hotel
22 Stanley Gardens
London W11 2NG
United Kingdom
+44 20 7727 2777
www.portobello-hotel.co.uk

The Main House
6 Colville Road
London W11 2BP
United Kingdom
+44 20 7221 9691
www.themainhouse.co.uk

Guesthouse West
163-165 Westbourne Grove
London W11 2RS
United Kingdom
+44 20 7792 9800
www.guesthousewest.com

Other Areas of London:

40 Winks (see review)
109 Mile End Road
Stepney Green
London E1 4UJ
United Kingdom
+44 20 7790 0259
www.40winks.org

Rough Luxe Hotel (see review)
1 Birkenhead Street
London WC1H 8BA
United Kingdom
+44 20 7837 5338
www.roughluxe.co.uk

The Soho Hotel
4 Richmond Mews
London W1D 3DH
United Kingdom
+44 20 7559 3000
www.firmdale.com

Covent Garden Hotel
10 Monmouth Street
London WC2H 9HB
United Kingdom
+44 20 7806 1000
www.firmdale.com

The Zetter Hotel
St. Johns Square
86-88 Clerkenwell Road
London EC1M 5RJ
United Kingdom
+44 20 7324 4444
www.thezetter.com

One Aldwych
1 Aldwych
London WC2B 4RH
United Kingdom
+44 20 73001000
www.onealdwych.com

my Hotel Chelsea
35 Ixworth Place
London SW3 3QX
United Kingdom
+44 20 7225 7500
www.myhotels.com

Sanderson Hotel
50 Berners Street
London W1T 3NG
United Kingdom
+44 20 7300 1400
www.sandersonlondon.com

K West Hotel and Spa
Richmond Way
London W14 OAX
United Kingdom
+44 (0) 20 8008 6600
www.k-west.co.uk

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Here is a Google map of my favorites in London.

View Mapplr London Hotels and Restaurants in a larger map

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