Where to Stay: London’s Finest Hotels

I’ve been travelling to London now for well over fifty years, and can still remember getting the train there with my parents when very young, to wake up in awe as we were staying at the (then) Regent Palace Hotel which overlooked at the lights of Piccadilly Circus. The Regent Palace opened in 1915 and was, at the time, one of the largest hotels in Europe. It was known for its Art Deco interiors and affordable accommodations, popular with both travellers and servicemen during the 20th century. The hotel closed in 2006 and the building was later redeveloped. 

It’s still a regular area for us to visit with the fabulous Hotel Café Royal adjacent to the old site, and it was incredible one time a few years ago when being taken to Brasserie Zédel that I had a flashback. Tucked just off Piccadilly Circus, Brasserie Zédel occupies the beautifully restored lower ground floor of the former Regent Palace Hotel. The grand Art Deco interiors of this dining space were carefully preserved and brought back to life, offering a rare glimpse into London’s glamorous interwar past. I can remember this from so long ago, the building and design reminiscent of an ocean liner.

In these (now) 50+ years of staying in London either for work, weekend breaks, or longer stays for events like the Chelsea Flower Show etc. I’ve stayed in numerous different hotels and have a wealth of experience over so many different areas of London. I also believe that London has the highest concentration of five-star hotels of anywhere in the world, even superseding Dubai, New York, and Paris. It’s easy to see how though, as new hotels continue to open, which adds up to an ongoing dilemma - revisit previous favourites or try out new openings?