The best boutique hotels in London for a stylish stay

Picking where to stay in London, with a hotel scene as diverse and compelling as its creative, multi-cultural population, can feel like a conundrum. From funky aparthotels and design-led boltholes created with co-workers in mind, to arty crashpads that place the environment first, there are a host of stellar properties to choose from. Whether looking for a laptop-friendly long stay in East London, a slick townhouse in Notting Hill, or a base close to the capital’s selection of museums and galleries, these spots combine brilliant location, value for money, gorgeous surroundings and a vibe we seriously dig. Here are the best boutique hotels in London to book now.

12 of the best hotels in London

Central London

The Standard, Kings Cross

Best for: Fun, frolics and a disco lounge
Location: 10 Argyle Street, London,WC1H 8EG
Price: From 199 GBP/252 USD, room only

Once one of London’s grittiest neighbourhoods, Kings Cross in 2025 is a thriving cultural hotspot, home to the likes of the Thomas Heatherwick-designed Coal Drops Yard. The place to bed down here is groovy, 266-room The Standard, housed in the former Camden Town Hall Annexe, just moments from the Eurostar terminal. Followers of Iris Apfel’s ‘more and more and less is a bore’ motto will appreciate its trendy, time warp interiors, which riff on the building’s 1970s roots. Think a wood-panelled music studio, two restaurants, and funky spaceship-looking bedrooms that feature rushes of London Underground-inspired crimson and navy, Bang & Olufsen speakers, and kooky shrimp-pink robes by Craig Green. Hedonists are spoilt for choice, with a cosy library lounge, sexy sky-high dining spot Decimo (reached by a red bubble-shaped exterior lift ) and disco lounge Sweeties.

The Henrietta Hotel, Covent Garden

Best for: Culture vultures
Location: 14-15 Henrietta Street, London, WC2E 8QH
Price: From 238 GBP/301 USD, B&B 

Tucked in an attractive townhouse on Henrietta Street, just a few steps from Covent Garden’s market, boutiques and close to Soho and theatreland (not to mention many of London’s best bars), 40-room Henrietta Hotel is small, but beautiful. Created by cocktail whizzes-turned-hoteliers the Experimental Group and with sleek interiors by Dorothée Meilichzon, a stay at The Henrietta has a touch of convivial private home to it, albeit one where you can feast on oysters with champagne mignonette and tender roast duck with blood orange and olives at Jackson Boxer’s Henri restaurant. Elsewhere, hunker down for cocktails in the company of botanical artworks on comfy emerald velvet chairs in the intimate glass-roofed lounge, before retreating upstairs to rooms with playful details; curving, geometric headboards, masses of mirrors, with walls licked in salmon pink and denim blue.

South London

The Hoxton, Southwark

Best for: Creative cool
Location: 40 Blackfriars Road, Southwark, London, SE1 8NY
Price: From 122 GBP/155 USD, room only

Despite springing up across Europe and the US, the Hoxton hotels manage to retain authentic, boutique appeal, minus the eye-watering price tag. A few minutes’ walk from Southbank’s galleries, and Borough Market – buongiorno Padella’s pici cacio e pepe, and Bread Ahead’s squishy amaretti biscuits – bedrooms at the 192-room Southwark outpost fuse industrial-style brass lighting with fern-hued walls, Crittal-style windows, berry-shade headboards and curated-by-locals bookshelves. Open-plan dining spot Albie, all tropical plants, terrazzo tables and a touch of NYC swagger, has ample spots to work, gossip, or do business tête-à-têtes. Six floors house members-only co-working space Working From (read more on that here), and on balmy evenings tropicool 14th-floor restaurant Seabird is the spot for seafood and frankly unbeatable city views – and if that doesn’t take your fancy, you’re in prime position to access London’s best restaurants and cocktail bars, too.

For those looking to stay west, The Hoxton Shepherd’s Bush is an affordable, stylish base just three tube stops from Notting Hill and 30 minutes from Heathrow, while the original hotel – after which The Hoxton group takes its name – is perfectly placed beside Old Street to explore east and central London.

East London

One Hundred Shoreditch, Shoreditch

Best for: Socially charged co-working
Location: 100 Shoreditch High Street, London, E1 6JQ
Price: From 163 GBP/207 USD, room only

Smack-bang on Shoreditch High Street, few hotels sit as in the thick of East London as One Hundred Shoreditch. Formerly Ace Hotel, the hotel retains a lively, co-working area and a community-focussed ethos combined with a Jacu Strauss-masterminded design shakeup. From Jan Hendzel wooden totems at its entrance to switched-on staff, and cosseting bedrooms with marshmallow-inspired beds, tactile Berber carpets and dried eucalyptus stems in ceramics, it’s a class act. Origin Coffee serve up ethically sourced coffees, a rotating gallery space celebrates local artists and DJs spin tunes at Mr Lyan’s basement bar Seed Library (considered one of the best cocktail bars in London). Fizzing with energy, expect sancho leaf martinis and conversation to flow in abundance.

Mama Shelter, Shoreditch

Best for: Flashpackers and families
Location: 437 Hackney Road, London, E2 8PP
Price: From 109 GBP/144 USD, room only

Serving up doesn’t-take-itself-too-seriously fun, Mama Shelter Shoreditch deserves its spot among the best hotels in London for its affordable rooms, inclusive attitude and unabashedly maximalist lounge-restaurant-bar. A whirl of retro-fringed lampshades, graffiti-adorned ceiling, and beaded Darth Vader artwork adorn the hotel’s eclectic heart, attracting folk plugging away on laptops, kids playing foosball, friends brunching on truffle mac’n’cheese, and an international crowd sipping elderflower-infused Suzette cocktails by the island bar. Downstairs, hours can be spent playing Golden Axe on retro arcade machines or singing up a storm in karaoke rooms. Fairly stripped back bedrooms are given personality with Tweety Pie and Sylvester masks atop lamps, and jazzy monochrome carpets. Bathrooms have all-in-one shampoo-and-shower-gel bars, and an ongoing ‘Kidzcation’ package offers an interconnecting kids’ room at half price. If you’re in the market for a night out, it’s a stone’s throw from epic venue Oval Space, one of London’s biggest spots for live music.

Leman Locke, Aldgate

Best for: Homely, hip long stays
Location: 15 Leman Street, London, E1 8EN
Price: From 160 GBP/203 USD, room only

While each of London’s Locke aparthotels has a distinct personality, there are a few familiar tropes you can count on: beautifully scented social areas filled with laptop-tapping remote workers; lively restaurants that are destinations in their own right, and a candy-hued aesthetic that blends low-slung cubist sofas with plants and polished concrete. Stylish, locally tapped-in staff – dressed in their own clothes, rather than uniform – are always on hand to help in person or by WhatsApp, ramping up the relaxed, home-away-from-home vibe. Locke’s original boutique aparthotel in Aldgate remains one of its best; close to the City, Tower Bridge and Whitechapel Gallery, the 171-studio property is popular with tech companies and digital nomads bedding down for a few weeks at a time. Spacious studios in baby blue and candyfloss shades have fully fitted Smeg kitchens, complete with a washing machine and mini dishwasher, comfy beds and options with open-plan living spaces. As well as the Shaman coffee shop which has third-wave brews, a co-working space, Japanese sushi restaurant, yoga studio and gym, an events roster packed with live music that’ll give you a taste of London’s music scene, a book club and running crew lend Leman Locke a friendly, community feel. There are also further Locke hotel locations in Dalston, Tower Bridge, Millennium Bridge, and Kensington.

Town Hall Hotel, Bethnal Green

Best for: Art and food-loving couples
Location: Town Hall Hotel, Patriot Square, London, E2 9NF
Price: From 285 GBP/363 USD, room only

Bethnal Green’s former Town Hall brings together old-meets-new architecture (Edwardian period features, Art Deco and contemporary), exquisite restaurants (South American meets Italian at two-Michelin-starred Da Terra, one of London’s best restaurants, tick; plates of burrata in a bloom-and-lamp-filled space at Elis, tick), and artwork at every turn. Statement and subtle pieces have been woven into surroundings (think coquettish wooden marquetry, a Persian Moosehead fashioned from antique Shiraz carpets and retro luggage reimagined as tables) alongside original grand staircases and glass-domed ceilings. 98 light-flooded studios, suites and apartments feature mid-century touches, toiletries by Percy & Reed, mid-century touches, and must-have kitchenettes. The 14m-pool – rare in London boutique hotels – is a joy, and at laidback Silk Weaver bar, bartenders shakes up clever concoctions featuring the likes of chamomile and lavender-infused bourbon.

West London

Inhabit, Paddington

Best for: Serene slumbers, wellness
Location: 25 – 27 Southwick Street, Paddington, London, W2 1JQ
Price: From 150 GBP/199 USD

Half-a-dozen Georgian townhouses with Scandi-style decor and positive impact at its core, this green-key-certified wellness-focused bolthole in Paddington is one of the best hotels in London for chic eco-smarts. A great base to explore Little Venice and Hyde Park, Inhabit is all about mind and body wellness, from lobby meditation pods for bite-size resets, to its gym, yoga atrium and infrared sauna. Leafy bedrooms’ gentle slate, sage and cream colour palettes are the visual equivalent of a full body exhale, and comfy VOC-free Casper mattresses and boxes to tuck mobile phones away aid restful snoozes. Socially conscious homewares like rattan boxes made by craftspeople in Myanmar and Studio 306 linen cushions can be found throughout, along with a quiet library plus Yeotown Kitchen for nourishing plant-based dishes and cold-pressed juices, and a pantry with help-yourself healthy snacks.

Room2, Chiswick

Best for: Sustainably minded long stays
Location: 10 Windmill Road, Chiswick, London, W4 1SD
Price: From 129 GBP/171 USD, room-only

Room2 Chiswick, steps away from swish Chiswick High Road where well-to-do locals coffeeshop-hop, is the world’s first whole-life net zero ‘hometel’ (meaning that its carbon footprint through its entire lifecycle from build to end of life will equal zero). As well as 86 bedrooms, two on-site lab rooms monitor water and energy use to refine its sustainability initiatives, which include ultra-low flow showers, solar panels and a zero waste to landfill ethos. The downstairs lounge transitions from light-filled working space and café by day into a sultry cocktail spot with Italian bites at night. Design-led bedrooms have marbled wallpaper details, millennial blue and pink palettes, and space-saving kitchenettes. A laundrette, Peleton-equipped gym and checkout a full 24 hours after a 2pm check in make it a great choice for both business travellers and holidaymakers.

The Laslett, Notting Hill

Best for: A laidback bolthole in the heart of Notting Hill
Location: 8 Pembridge Gardens, London W2 4DU
Price: From 258 GBP/329 USD, room only

Located mere steps away from Notting Hill Gate station, The Laslett is spread across five stucco-fronted townhouses and is designed to feel more like an affluent friend’s private home than a hotel. There is a laidback lounge area, heated outdoor terrace and all-day Henderson Bar, where locals drop by for lingering coffees and avocado piled high on sourdough toast. Guests can select from dinky single rooms, which are ideal for solo travellers and longer stays, to a slick penthouse suite, packed with REN toiletries and antique finds from nearby Les Couilles du Chien on Golborne Road. Comfort is also king, with high-quality linens and soft furnishings for a restful night’s sleep. Contemporary art fills the hotel, including works by Harland Miller and BIBA founder (and fellow Notting Hill resident) Barbara Hulanicki. The hotel also hosts the Recharge Rooms for all manner of body and facial treatments, alongside one of London’s only Ozone Saunas, which offers a heap of wellbeing benefits for an energising pick-me-up.

The Lost Poet, Notting Hill

Best for: A design-centric guesthouse on Portobello Road
Location: 6 Portobello Road, London W11 3DG
Price: From 200 GBP/245 USD

Another Notting Hill hideaway is The Lost Poet, a Victorian townhouse-turned four-bedroom guesthouse designed by Cubic Studios, connected by a narrow, spindly staircase. Rooms are generously sized with pitch-perfect interiors: House of Hackney wallpaper and zellige tiles fight for attention amongst artwork by London’s Nelly Duff, and zainy Andrew Martin cushions. All of the furniture is either vintage or commissioned for the project, including upcycled Iroko desks and armchairs upholstered by Timorous Beasties. In the morning, an Ottolenghi breakfast is left by the door, and guests can also make use of the rooftop terrace, where you can gaze out over the neighbourhood’s colourful terraced houses. The hotel is perfectly positioned for rummaging through Notting Hill market on Fridays and Saturdays.

The Other House, South Kensington

Best for: Longer stays, holistic wellness
Location: Harrington Gardens, South Kensington, London SW7 4JW
Price: From 225 GBP/269 USD

The Other House offers smartly decorated ‘club flats’ that are perfect for longer stays, and stand out against South Kensington’s more traditional dwellings. Cosy studios and larger apartment-style rooms, which are perfect for packing the kids in, all come with kitchenettes and comfortable living space. Rooms are decked out in rich tones of teal blue and oxblood, with tweed and velvet furnishings. Public spaces – including the lobby, library, restaurant and Owl & Monkey bar – are a louder affair, channeling maximalist glamour with plume-patterned wallpaper and gilded fixtures. The real star of The Other House is its private club for members and guests, comprising various lounge and living areas, alongside a serene subterranean wellness space with an eight-metre swimming pool. Light pours through a tree-filled glazed atrium to create a serene oasis in the middle of the city, which is also ideal for remote working. It lays claim to the largest gong in Europe for immersive sound baths, while reiki, reflexology, tarot readings and crystal healings form the club’s holistic offering, created in partnership with Mama Wellbeing. The Other House takes sustainability seriously, operating a low-waste kitchen and allowing guests to measure and control their energy usage via The Other House App. Location-wise, The Natural History Museum and the V&A are right on your doorstep.

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