Dorset Square Hotel

Character and identity

A 38-room Regency townhouse on the edge of leafy Dorset Square in Marylebone, this is a small, idiosyncratic property built around an unexpected conceit: cricket. The square was the site of Thomas Lord's original ground, and the hotel leans in with vintage bats, framed uniforms and cricket-ball doorknobs throughout the public spaces. Kit Kemp has dressed each room differently, so expect padded fabric walls, jersey headboards and bursts of colour layered onto traditional British bones. The Potting Shed handles updated British cooking and afternoon tea, and a drawing room with an honour bar functions as the social heart. Service runs personal, with handwritten notes on arrival.

Who's it for

Bottom line

The appeal here is scale and personality: 38 rooms, a themed townhouse and the kind of arrival ritual a 200-room hotel cannot replicate. Book it if you want London at a human pace and value design over facilities. Ask for one of the more boldly decorated rooms (they vary significantly), and plan at least one afternoon tea or Silly Mid Wicket in the drawing room.