Four Seasons Hotel London at Tower Bridge

Character and identity

Set in a 1922 neoclassical landmark that once housed the Port of London Authority, this 100-room hotel sits across from the Tower of London with the river and Tower Bridge a short walk away. Corinthian columns front the entrance; inside, a marble rotunda, the walnut-panelled UN Ballroom (site of the 1946 General Assembly) and a glass elevator threaded through the original grand staircase do the heavy lifting. Interiors lean masculine and Art Deco-inflected, in greys, gold and blood-red. Anne-Sophie Pic's La Dame de Pic anchors the dining, with Mei Ume for Chinese-Japanese, and an 18,000-square-foot basement spa houses a 14-metre lap pool and Moroccan hammam.

Who's it for

Bottom line

The pull here is the marriage of a genuinely historic building with one of London's most ambitious hotel restaurants, all wrapped in a register that prizes quiet over spectacle. Book it if you want a serious, design-driven London stay with food and spa to match; couples should aim for a Heritage Suite, and the Presidential Suite's private terrace is the splurge play.