Planning a trip to London and not sure where to stay? Here’s our honest, area-by-area guide, budget, mid-range and luxury picks included, plus what each area is genuinely bad at as well as good.
London isn’t one city so much as a cluster of very different neighbourhoods stitched together, and where you base yourself shapes your entire trip. Stay in the wrong spot and you’ll spend half your holiday on the Tube. Get it right and everything worth seeing is a short walk or a couple of stops away.
We’ve picked twelve areas, each with a genuine reason to choose it, a genuine reason you might not, and three hotel picks per area spanning budget, mid-range and luxury, so this works whatever you’re spending.
Quick answer: where should I stay?
- First time in London, want to be near everything: the West End or Westminster.
- Tightest budget, still central: Shoreditch or Kings Cross.
- Travelling via Eurostar: Kings Cross and St Pancras.
- Flying into Heathrow: Paddington/Marylebone gives you the fastest airport link via the Elizabeth line.
- Flying into Gatwick: anywhere near Victoria, for the Gatwick Express.
- Want a proper local feel, not just tourist London: Shoreditch.
- Travelling with family: Kensington.
- Want quiet, and don’t mind paying for it: Mayfair, Belgravia or Marylebone.
How to actually choose: transport first
Before you fall in love with a neighbourhood, think about how you’re arriving and getting around, it matters more than most guides let on.
Flying into Heathrow? Areas near the Elizabeth line (Paddington, Bond Street, Farringdon, Liverpool Street) get you into town fastest. Flying into Gatwick? Anywhere near Victoria station is the easy option, thanks to the Gatwick Express. Arriving by Eurostar? Stay near King’s Cross St Pancras and save yourself the transfer entirely.
Beyond that, our one genuinely useful piece of advice: try to stay within a five-minute walk of a Tube or Overground station, whatever area you pick. London is huge, and the Underground is what makes it manageable.
The best areas to stay in London
The West End: best for first-time visitors and theatre
The West End, Covent Garden, Piccadilly and Leicester Square, is busy, but it earns it. For many people, this is what London means, buzzing, packed, and always lively, and it’s genuinely the best base for sightseeing, shopping and theatre.
Worth knowing: you’re paying a real premium for the location, and Covent Garden Piazza itself can feel like a tourist trap by mid-afternoon. If you want a quieter evening, you’ll need to walk a few streets away from the main drag.
Highlights: a play at a West End theatre, the British Museum, Oxford Street’s shops (and its Christmas lights), the lights of Piccadilly Circus.
Budget: Z Hotel Covent Garden
Small, well-designed rooms and a genuinely central location for around £70-120 a night, this is the best value you’ll find this close to the theatres.
Mid-range: The Henrietta
One of our favourite places to stay in London. Cool and chic, yet properly five-star in service, with just 18 rooms that feel more like a very expensive friend’s home than a hotel. Interior designer Dorothée Meilichzon has gone to town with gold lamps, mirrors and upholstered headboards, it sounds garish written down, but it isn’t.
The Henrietta, 14-15 Henrietta St, London WC2E 8PS. Rooms from £330.
Luxury: Hotel Café Royal, Piccadilly Circus
Guests staying here see one of London’s most photographed views the moment they step outside, thanks to the Regent Street location. But it takes more than a great address to earn a reputation like this one’s, most notably, the Akasha Spa, London’s first with a Watsu pool, used for specialist hydrotherapy treatments across nine treatment rooms.
Hotel Café Royal, 68 Regent Street, London W1B 4DY. Rooms from £330.
Westminster: best for sightseeing
Stretching back from the Thames, Westminster sits at the top of most visitors’ lists thanks to the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery. It’s a short walk to the West End with good transport links to the rest of the city.
Worth knowing: Westminster is largely government buildings and monuments rather than a genuine residential neighbourhood, it empties out and goes quiet in the evenings, which some people love and others find a bit soulless after dark.
Highlights: Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery (both free).
Budget: Hub by Premier Inn Westminster
Smart, compact rooms with app-controlled lighting and clever under-bed storage, genuinely well-designed for the price, and about as close to the sights as budget accommodation gets in this part of town.
Mid-range: St Ermin’s Hotel, Autograph Collection
A grand Victorian building tucked down a quiet cul-de-sac just off Victoria Street, genuinely handsome without the price tag of some of its Westminster neighbours.
St Ermin’s Hotel, 2 Caxton St, London SW1H 0QW. Rooms from £220.
Luxury: The Corinthia London
A grand hotel with London luxury lifestyle stamped all over it, fine-dining restaurants, stellar bars, and one genuine must-do, the ESPA Life spa. At 3,300 square metres, it’s the city’s largest, and its most luxurious, 17 treatment rooms plus private sleep pods for a post-treatment snooze.
The Corinthia London, Whitehall Place, Charing Cross, London SW1A 2BD. Rooms from £350.
London Bridge and the South Bank: best for views and food
More than just a nursery rhyme, London Bridge makes a genuinely good base thanks to its central location and excellent transport links. It’s not the first place most people think of, but it should be.
Worth knowing: it’s a big stretch of riverside, and some parts (right around London Bridge station itself) are considerably less charming than others. Look for a hotel closer to Borough Market or the Southbank Centre rather than directly on top of the station.
Highlights: afternoon tea at Ting in the Shangri-La, Borough Market, the viewing platform at The Shard, the London Eye, the National Theatre, Tate Modern.
Budget: citizenM London Bankside
Compact, design-led rooms with mood lighting and app-based everything, two minutes from Tate Modern and genuinely good value for the location.
Mid-range: The Tower Hotel, by Thistle
Right on the river with genuine Tower Bridge views from a huge share of the rooms, this is the mid-range pick that punches well above its price point purely on location.
Luxury: Shangri-La at The Shard
The Shard is London’s tallest building, so its hotel has some of the best room views in the city, perched between floors 34 and 52. Service is friendly and efficient, with an excellent roster of restaurants and bars, marble bathrooms with heated floors, and an infinity pool on the top floor that will thoroughly distract you from actually swimming. Don’t skip Ting for one of the best afternoon teas in the city.
Shangri-La at The Shard, 31 St Thomas St, London SE1 9QU. Rooms from £340.
Soho: best for nightlife
We’ve chosen Soho as the best area to stay for nightlife, there are clubs and late-night bars right on your doorstep, plus walking distance to more of the capital’s liveliest spots. What used to be a rather seedy part of the city centre has been transformed into one of its liveliest, with some of London’s best restaurants and bars now sitting alongside a genuine range of high-end hotels.
Worth knowing: it’s loud, especially on weekend nights, and light sleepers should look for a room away from the main streets. This is not the neighbourhood for an early night.
Highlights: dim sum at Yauatcha, dinner at Bob Bob Ricard, an indie film at the Curzon.
Budget: Z Hotel Soho
Small rooms, genuine Soho address, free wine and cheese most evenings, exactly the kind of trade-off that makes sense if you’re planning to spend most of your time out rather than in your room.
Mid-range: Kimpton Fitzroy London
A grand Bloomsbury-adjacent building right on the edge of Soho’s reach, genuinely handsome public spaces without Soho’s full price premium.
Luxury: Ham Yard Hotel
Yes, this is the one with its own bowling alley. One of London’s best boutique hotels, Ham Yard combines eclectic, maximalist decor with real comfort, our favourite property from hoteliers Tim and Kit Kemp thanks to its unusual style and genuinely unpretentious feel. It sits at the bottom of Regent Street, a properly central location for a Soho break.
Ham Yard Hotel, One Ham Yard, Soho, London W1D 7DT. Rooms from £310.
Kensington: best for families
Kensington Palace
It’s not called Museum Mile for nothing. Kensington has some of the city’s best-known museums, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the gloriously eclectic V&A, all within walking distance, and a slightly more relaxed pace than central London.
Worth knowing: it’s genuinely expensive, and the museums get seriously crowded with school groups on weekdays during term time, worth knowing if you’re bringing your own kids and hoping for a quieter visit.
Highlights: the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the V&A, tapas at Cambio de Tercio.
Budget: Point A Hotel Kensington
No-frills, well-located, and considerably cheaper than most of what’s around it, a sensible pick if the museums are the whole point of the trip and you don’t need much beyond a clean room to sleep in.
Mid-range: The Ampersand Hotel
Round the corner from Museum Mile, The Ampersand is a genuine draw for families planning time in the Natural History Museum, Science Museum and V&A. It offers additional beds for certain room categories, interconnecting rooms, and suites with mini kitchenettes, handy for prepping kids’ snacks. There’s a full children’s menu in the Mediterranean-style Apero restaurant downstairs too.
The Ampersand Hotel, 10 Harrington Rd, Kensington, London SW7 3ER. Rooms from £175.
Luxury: Blakes Hotel
Not remotely family-friendly, but if you’re doing Kensington without the kids, Blakes is one of the original London boutique hotels, providing a decadent place to lay your head since 1978. Four-poster beds, gilt frames and freestanding baths make it a genuinely good pick for a romantic break, and the opulent Blakes Below bar is worth a night in on its own.
Blakes Hotel, 33 Roland Gardens, South Kensington, London SW7 3PF. Rooms from £230.
Shoreditch: best for a local feel
Street food markets, street art and container shopping, Shoreditch never stops reinventing itself. Stay here if you want to see London like a local, there are high-end hotels and swanky bars, but plenty of Londoners genuinely live, sleep and play in Shoreditch too.
Worth knowing: it’s not the best area for sightseeing, the big tourist landmarks are a Tube ride away, not a walk, and it can feel more like a night out with occasional sightseeing than the other way round. Weekend nights are loud.
Highlights: Columbia Road Flower Market, Boxpark, no-menu tasting dinners at The Clove Club.
Budget: Z Hotel Shoreditch
Small, well-designed rooms and a genuine Shoreditch address for a fraction of what the area’s boutique hotels charge, the rooftop terrace is a genuinely nice bonus at this price point.
Mid-range: Ace Hotel Shoreditch
This London outpost of the achingly cool US chain paved the way for the wave of stylish, hip hotels that followed it into the neighbourhood. Sixties decor paired with light wood and splashes of colour, denim APC bedcovers, concrete sinks, the lobby-slash-coffee-shop is always buzzing with a mix of the city’s creative types and hotel guests. Not the hotel to book if you want a quiet weekend away from it all, but exactly right if you want somewhere with genuine atmosphere.
Ace Hotel, 100 Shoreditch High St, London E1 6JQ. Rooms from £128.
Luxury: The Curtain
New York hotelier Michael Achenbaum’s Shoreditch outpost holds its own in a neighbourhood full of hotels trying to look cool. Rooms walk the line between contemporary and rough-luxe, exposed brick bedroom walls metres from marble bathrooms, plus a sneaker-shining service and customised Carhartt staff uniforms that tell you exactly what kind of hotel this is. The 1,600 square metre rooftop, with its outdoor pool, day beds and bar, is the real draw.
The Curtain, 45 Curtain Rd, London EC2A 3PT. Rooms from £155.
Mayfair, Belgravia and Victoria: best for luxury and quiet
Mayfair, Belgravia and Victoria are technically three separate neighbourhoods, but for visitors they’re united by their luxury clientele and some of London’s most prestigious addresses. Buckingham Palace might dominate the headlines, but there’s a whole wealth of things to discover in this genuinely elegant part of the city.
Worth knowing: this is not a budget area, full stop, and it can feel a little sleepy and residential in the evenings compared to Soho or Shoreditch. Come here for grandeur and quiet, not nightlife.
Highlights: the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace, St James’s Park, afternoon tea at Sketch, the Royal Academy of Arts.
Budget: Hyde Park International
The most affordable option genuinely within this part of town, close to Hyde Park and a fair walk from the very grandest addresses, but a real toehold in an otherwise expensive postcode.
Mid-range: Dukes, Mayfair
A few steps from Green Park, Dukes has everything going for it on location and history, and nothing else disappoints either. Old-school cool with a recent refurbishment bringing rooms bang up to date, it’s hard to believe the frenetic pace of Mayfair is mere minutes from the muffled hush of the hotel.
Dukes Hotel, 35 St James’s Place, London SW1A 1NY. Rooms from £349.
Luxury: Claridge’s
You simply can’t have a list of London’s best hotels without Claridge’s. Guests are welcomed by a striking Dale Chihuly chandelier in the lobby, after which it’s an exercise in the very best of class and style throughout. Everyone stays at Claridge’s, darling, royalty and celebrities included, half-jokingly called “the annex of Buckingham Palace” for good reason. Art Deco style throughout, mirrored surfaces and ornate design tempered by an understated colour scheme, marble bathrooms, Egyptian cotton sheets.
Claridge’s, Brook Street, Mayfair, London W1K 4HR. Rooms from £400.
Marylebone: best value with charm
Although it’s a short hop from busier areas like the West End, Marylebone is a more low-key neighbourhood, offbeat museums, trendy restaurants and traditional pubs, and it’s been the hub of London’s more genteel social scene since the 17th century.
Worth knowing: the “Marylebone” name covers a genuinely wide area, from the smart, expensive stretch around Marylebone High Street to the considerably more budget-friendly Paddington end. Know which one you’re actually booking.
Highlights: browsing Daunt Books, the Wallace Collection, Peruvian food at Pachamama.
Budget: The Pilgrm, Paddington
Four townhouses transformed into a genuinely stylish, rule-breaking hotel, no reception desk, no traditional check-in process, no in-room phones or air-con. It’s become one of the coolest hotels in London on the strength of doing a handful of things really well rather than piling on the amenities, Bluetooth speakers and excellent bed linen among the small luxuries you do get. Rooms are small, but the prices reflect it.
The Pilgrm, 25 London St, London W2 1HH. Rooms from £99.
Mid-range: Zetter Townhouse, Marylebone
Gloriously quirky, booking into the Zetter Townhouse is like stepping into a rabbit hole, full of surprises and almost too surreal to believe. Sister to the original Zetter Townhouse in Clerkenwell, the Marylebone outpost has inherited its sibling’s eccentricities in full, colourful, endearing interiors built around the fantasy that it’s the home of a slightly zany relative. It’s minutes from Marble Arch and Hyde Park despite feeling like a world of its own.
The Zetter Townhouse, 28-30 Seymour St, Marylebone, London W1H 7JB. Rooms from £190.
Luxury: The Landmark London
A grand Victorian railway hotel with a genuinely breathtaking eight-storey glass-roofed atrium, right by Marylebone station. Old-school grandeur without feeling stuffy.
Kings Cross and St Pancras: best for the Eurostar
Kings Cross and St Pancras is an area reborn, what was once an outpost of grimy bars and late-night entertainment has transformed itself into one of the best places to stay in London outside the centre. St Pancras International is London’s Eurostar station, so if you’re arriving from the continent, this is the obvious choice, great transport connections and genuinely a lot to do in the area itself.
Worth knowing: it’s still finding its feet as a destination in its own right, plenty of the immediate area around the station is offices and development rather than the kind of streets you’d want to wander for their own sake.
Highlights: Drink, Shop, Do (a cafe-bar with rotating workshops), the London Canal Museum, the German Gymnasium.
Budget: Point A Hotel King’s Cross
Sleek, contemporary rooms with a monochrome finish, right by the station, and a genuinely friendly atmosphere for the price.
Mid-range: The Standard, London
Housed in a striking former Camden Town Hall annexe extension, genuinely distinctive design and one of the better-value mid-range picks in the area.
Luxury: St Pancras Renaissance
Minutes from the Eurostar terminal, this is one of the great Victorian railway hotels reimagined for the modern age. Elaborate wrought-iron balusters wind up the staircase, Chesterfield-style banquettes and wood panelling everywhere, it’s like stepping back in time with all the conveniences of the present day intact.
St Pancras Renaissance, Euston Road, London N1C 4TB. Rooms from £245.
The City: best for business travellers
London’s financial and business hub has a lot going for it beyond the office towers. As the City of London’s home turf for corporate business, it’s the obvious base for work trips, but it’s not boring, some of London’s oldest, most beautiful pubs are here, alongside Leadenhall Market and St Dunstan in the East.
Worth knowing: it goes properly quiet at weekends, which can translate into lower hotel prices, but also a fairly dead atmosphere if you’re staying Friday to Sunday and expecting a buzzing neighbourhood.
Highlights: late-night eats at Duck & Waffle, Spitalfields Market, Leadenhall Market, the ruins at St Dunstan in the East.
Budget: ibis London City Shoreditch
Contemporary, practical rooms a short walk from Aldgate East and close to the financial district, a sensible choice for business travellers who don’t need much beyond a desk and reliable WiFi.
Mid-range: Canopy by Hilton London City
Modern, design-forward rooms right in the heart of the financial district, a solid step up from the chain budget options nearby without tipping into luxury pricing.
Luxury: The Ned
Before The Ned came along, staying in the City could be a bit dull. Nick Jones (of Soho House fame) brought new life to the area with this 252-room hotel inside the striking former Midland Bank HQ, built in the 1920s and still showing off plenty of original features. Decor leans heavily on the Twenties and Thirties for inspiration. The eighth floor, with its pool and rooftop bar overlooking the City, is reserved for hotel guests and members only, as is the Lutyens Grill downstairs. It also doubles as a private members’ club, handy if you’re in London for business often.
The Ned, 27 Poultry, London EC2R 8AJ. Rooms from £210.
Shepherd’s Bush: best value
A peaceful, residential area with a memorable name nobody can quite agree the origin of, Shepherd’s Bush is the best place in London to stay if value is the main thing you’re optimising for. Convenient Tube access into the touristy parts of town, but a genuinely more residential, cheaper atmosphere once you’re back “home” for the evening.
Worth knowing: it’s not walkable to the major sights, you’re relying on the Tube for pretty much everything, which is fine, but worth knowing before you book if you were hoping to wander out the door straight into central London.
Highlights: Westfield London (one of the city’s biggest shopping centres), Shepherd’s Bush Market, live music and comedy at Bush Hall.
Budget: Premier Inn Shepherd’s Bush
Reliable, predictable, and genuinely cheap for the location, exactly what you want from a Premier Inn, no surprises, good beds, and a straightforward Tube ride into town.
Mid-range: K West Hotel & Spa
A boutique hotel with a genuinely good spa, hydrotherapy pool and herbal steam room included, in a low-key, less busy part of town. Rooms are bright, colourful and welcoming, and the bar does a solid weekend DJ set if you fancy a livelier evening without leaving the building.
Holborn: best for culture
Slap in the centre of London, and one of its oldest neighbourhoods, Holborn puts you a short walk from the theatres around Covent Garden and Covent Garden itself, with its excellent spread of places to eat and drink.
Just as close is the British Museum, one of the finest in the world, and Somerset House and the Courtauld Gallery, home to a genuinely stunning collection of Van Gogh, Cézanne and Manet. You’re also close to Fleet Street and the Strand, and a couple of stops from the rest of the action.
Worth knowing: Holborn itself doesn’t have a huge amount of independent character of its own, it’s more a genuinely convenient base for reaching everywhere else than a destination in its own right.
Highlights: the British Museum, the Courtauld Gallery.
Budget: The Hoxton, Holborn
Stylish, well-designed rooms at a genuinely reasonable price for the location, part of the wider Hoxton group’s reliable formula of good design without the full boutique-hotel price tag.
Mid-range: The Montague on the Gardens
Cosy, elegant, and with a genuine home-away-from-home feeling guests consistently praise, this is the sweet spot between charm and price in Holborn, without the frantic pace of central-London pricing.
Luxury: Rosewood London
You’ll be impressed by the Rosewood from the moment you see its facade, a grand Edwardian building that looks like it could be the home of a royal figure, a fairly reliable nod to the treatment you can expect once checked in. Service is aimed at the highest degree of luxury and comfort, with a range of excellent restaurants and bars throughout, including one perched on the roof overlooking the neighbourhood. Rooms are spacious with the full range of amenities you’d expect at this level, and the Underground is a two-minute walk away.
The London x London Take: if this is your first trip and money’s no object, the West End or Westminster genuinely earn the hype. If you’ve been before, or want London rather than a postcard of London, Shoreditch or London Bridge will serve you far better, and cost less doing it.
Best areas to stay in London at a glance
Where to stay in London: frequently asked questions
How do you get around in London?
The simplest way is the Underground, what Londoners call the Tube. It’s old but reliable, with stations at nearly every landmark and neighbourhood you’ll want to reach. Black cabs are iconic and their drivers genuinely know London’s streets better than anyone, but they cost considerably more than the Tube or a minicab app.
Where should I stay for my first visit to London?
If it’s your first time and budget allows, stay as central as possible. The West End puts theatres, shopping and shows at your fingertips, while Westminster puts most of the must-see sights within walking distance. Both are genuinely the best areas to stay in London for a first-time visit.
What’s the best neighbourhood for a genuine local feel?
Shoreditch, without much competition. It’s where a lot of young Londoners actually live, work and go out, the best bars and cafes, cool street art, and genuinely excellent food markets, a world away from the more polished, tourist-facing parts of Westminster.
This blog is like the one-stop guide for London Travelers. Very well written and Nice Images. I personally enjoyed my stay at Shangri La. What an awesome view it has. Still, remember after almost a year!!
Really glad to hear that you liked the piece. The Shangri La is ridiculously beautiful.