The Best Boutique Hotels in London

The London boutique hotel scene has exploded in the last few years – and for very good reasons. Nobody wants to feel like one in a billion visitors to London! Checking into one of its boutique hotels is one of the best ways to guarantee a unique experience.

So we at Totally Tailored have been investigating how to get a hotel experience that’s as tailored to you as one of our tours. All you have to do is sit back and wait for room service.

The Best of the Best:

Hotel 41

Where: 41 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0PS

You might raise your eyes at that title, but Hotel 41 has won almost every award for luxury and boutique hotels. Sometimes several years in a row! What’s more, its levels of customer satisfaction (not to say ecstasy) have to be seen to be believed.

Located just opposite Buckingham Palace, this gem of a hotel is where you’ll get the royal treatment in suitably elegant surroundings. Every room has a sexy, monochrome theme running through its décor, and the staff is ready to attend to your every whim. From a choice of champagne at check-in to an all-day chocolate buffet, this is luxury redefined. Meanwhile, thanks to a meticulous concierge service, you can get on with the business of enjoying London.

Best for Vintage Flamboyance:

Zetter Townhouse Clerkenwell

Where: 49-50 St John’s Square, London EC1V 4JJ

The Zetter Townhouse is one of the best-known boutique hotels in town and for very good reasons. We don’t just mean the bevy of actors, models, and musicians who make this their home when they’re in London for a premiere/sell-out-show/runway walk. No, it’s because here you will always enjoy luxury that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The taxidermy kangaroo in the dining room (see above) is just the start!

The hotel is housed in a stunning Georgian townhouse with only 13 rooms, inspired by a fictional eccentric Great Aunt and that’s perfect, because it’s nestled in the heart of Clerkenwell. It’s been home to British eccentrics throughout history, and is known as one of London’s major design districts. As befits a boutique hotel guest, you’ll find quirky jewelry, chic stationery, and classic pubs just a stone’s throw away from your breakfast or from your evening whisky – make ours a double!

Tour Guide Tip: if the original is all booked up, then you could always try this hotel’s even more eccentric little sister, the Zetter Townhouse Marylebone.

Best for Glamorous Guests:

Blakes Hotel

Where: 33 Roland Gardens, Kensington, London SW7 3PF

There’s no other way of describing Blakes: it looks like a movie set. For a film about the most glamorous people in the world. ‘Unapologetic beauty’ is its mantra – as you can tell from the pictures. Yet its unique range of rooms, all individually designed by Anouska Hempel, range from opulent boudoirs to coastal-style retreats.

These are rooms just begging to be photographed before you unpack your suitcase and make yourself thoroughly at home. Oh, and there’s also a private mews house, if you want to have a truly A-list experience.

Tour Guide Tip: if you love Anouska Hempel’s signature Italian-influenced style but Blakes is booked out, you can also try the nearby Franklin Hotel.

Best for Old World Opulence:

Batty Langley’s

Where: 12 Folgate Street, Spitalfields, London E1 6BX

Nope, you didn’t read that name wrong – this boutique hotel is named after an 18th century architect and garden designer, Batty Langley. Which is fitting, because this hotel would suit a design nerd from the Regency era, hiding all its 21st century comforts behind gorgeous wood panelling.

Put it this way, if you’ve ever wanted to live like the Crawleys from Downton Abbey (but with added Wi-Fi) then book into the Earl of Bolingbroke’s suite. Of course you’re going to sleep like a Lord here, just look at that four poster bed!