Hotel Café Royal

Character and identity

Behind a Georgian façade at the southern end of Regent Street, this 159-room property sits at the seam where Mayfair, Soho and Piccadilly Circus meet. The lobby announces itself with a 700-pound Murano chandelier; upstairs, rooms read thoroughly contemporary (leather-lined walls, Bang & Olufsen systems, solid Carrara marble bathtubs cut from single blocks of stone). The dining roster is serious: Alex Dilling's modern French tasting menu, Albert Adrià's Cakes & Bubbles, the gilded Grill Room for afternoon tea, and Green Bar with its absinthe fountain. Akasha, the basement spa, runs a near-60-foot lap pool, hammam and London's first watsu pool. Service is polished and butler-led in the suites.

Who's it for

Bottom line

What sets this place apart is the combination under one roof: a genuinely destination-grade spa, three distinct dining rooms worth booking on their own merits, and a location that puts central London at the doorstep without the street noise reaching the rooms. Pay up for a suite to get the butler and the Piccadilly views; the Grand Regent is the headline room. Book Alex Dilling well ahead.